Words Fail Me
by Solstice Muse
Summary: A Harry and Ron friendship fic.Overcoming war wounds,guilt and other people's prejudice Harry returns to magical society while Ron gets sick of 'victim' status and strives for his independence.MUTE.RON TRANSLATOR.HARRY
1. Sight and Sound

**Words Fail Me**

**Sight and Sound**

_Thump, thump, thump!_

Percy Weasley opened the front door and froze on the spot and stared at his baby brother almost as if he was frightened of him.

"What are you doing here?" he said uneasily as he leaned out the front door and glanced up and down the street, "Are you on your own?"

Ron huffed and pulled a note from his pocket and held it out to him. Percy took the note and read it, his face fell as he read and he folded the note again and looked back at Ron who stepped aside from the front door and gestured for Percy to come with him.

"Um look Ron, I never made mother any promises about today and I don't think anyone's ready for a big family get together just yet are we?"

Ron huffed again and plunged his hand into his pocket to pull out the little notepad he carried with him at all times and began to scribble something hurriedly. Percy felt that familiar pang of hurt inside his chest as he waited for Ron to finish writing. He would give anything in the world to hear his brother shouting at him right now. He'd give anything not to have to remind himself every few seconds not to stare at his brother's ugly scar. He'd give everything to be able to just talk to Ron again.

Ron held the pad out for Percy to read.

_Mum's waiting for you and I am not going to go back without you and make her cry you arse! Get a grip and put on your cloak, you're coming to dinner whether you like it or not._

Percy felt uncomfortable and knew that dinner with a family who hated him could only end in tears for his mother. She wouldn't let up on him though; she never gave up hope that things could get back the way they were before. Percy had burned too many bridges though. He had hurt his parents and his brothers and sister wouldn't ever forget it. He had his own forgiveness issues to deal with as well. He couldn't look Harry Potter in the eye and keep from boiling with fury at what he had done. How was it Harry had robbed Ron of his ability to talk and almost killed him in the process yet was forgiven instantly while Percy had only ever wanted to look after Ron and Ginny and was now a pompous arse who wasn't worthy of their sympathy?

He reached out to take the pad and pencil from Ron's hand to write a reply. Ron snatched it away from him. He glared at his brother, the only one of his brothers who had no idea how to have a conversation with him these days, and flicked back to the first page of the pad where the bold letters spelled out exactly how Percy had just put his foot in it this time.

_You don't have to write on the bloody pad! I'm not fucking DEAF!_

He thrust the declaration under Percy's nose and his brother flushed in the face and looked deeply ashamed of himself.

"I-I-I...Ron, I'm so sorry, of course you can talk to me...I mean hear me talk to you."

Ron shook his head and Percy knew he was swearing inside his head. Ron heard footsteps behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see an elderly couple smiling and nodding to Percy as they passed by. It was Percy's very respectable neighbours; they were both very high up in the Ministry before they retired.

"Good afternoon Mr Weasley," the old wizard said before his eyes darted over to Ron's face and then down to his throat, "Oh my word you're Ronald aren't you?"

Percy hated that people knew Ron on sight now. He hated why they knew his face and why they would always look to his scar before looking into his eyes just the same way they always did when they met Harry Potter. The old witch gasped and stared at Ron's throat while Ron turned and scowled at Percy for putting him in this position at all.

"Oh young man I read all about you in the Prophet. What that awful man did to you," the elderly wizard shook his head and his wife gave Ron a pitying look.

Percy had to act now, Ron looked about ready to blow.

"Um well my brother's just coming to pick me up actually," Percy said as he reached out and grabbed Ron by the shoulder and pulled him inside the flat with a gracious smile at his neighbours, "we're going to meet my family for Sunday lunch."

"Oh isn't that nice for you son?" the old man said with a condescending smile as he looked at Ron in that way he was all too familiar with by now, "I expect you need your brother more than ever now don't you boy?"

Ron was glaring at the old man and his ears were burning bright crimson as the man's wife looked suddenly stricken and her pity grew even more intense.

"Oh of course you poor thing, you can't floo anymore can you?"

Ron turned and gave Percy a hard stare. He got the message immediately and began to close the front door on the two of them.

"We've really got to go now, sorry," Percy smiled graciously.

"Oh but are you sure you can manage him on your own?" the old man was calling as the door clicked shut.

Percy turned to see Ron storming down the hall into the kitchen where he slammed the note pad down onto the kitchen table and began to write furiously. He wrote with such anger that the pencil ripped through the paper and Percy knew that he had to go to the Burrow now otherwise have the whole family descend upon him for putting his brother in such a foul mood.

"Ron, I'm coming okay? Let's get to the Burrow and just forget about those two...Let's just forget about them alright?"

Ron tore the page from his note pad and tossed it upon the table before pulling out his wand and searching for something in Percy's kitchen. Percy picked up the ragged piece of paper and read it.

_I'll tell mum you're busy. Thanks for putting those old bastards in their place Perce; it means so much to me that you don't just stand by while people treat me like a retard!_

"Ron don't be like that," Percy said as Ron flicked his wand at a butterbeer bottle and created the portkey non-verbally, "They're set in their ways. To folk like that losing your vocal chords is like losing the ability to do magic altogether. They didn't mean anything by it."

Ron extended his arm over the butterbeer bottle and met Percy's eyes.

"Can I come with you Ronald?" Percy asked him nervously.

Ron shrugged and hesitated over the portkey. Percy stepped forward and held his own hand over the bottle.

"So shall I count to three?" Percy asked and immediately knew that he had done the wrong thing.

Ron's eyes widened and his finger thrust into his own chest before doing some kind of rapid movement with his fingers and looking as if he was about to punch Percy.

"I'm sorry Ron I don't understand..." Percy said as he looked down at his feet shamefacedly.

Ron's hand banged down upon the kitchen table and Percy jumped and make an involuntary yelping sound. Ron made another hand signal that he didn't understand before counting to three on his fingers and the two of them grabbed the portkey and were transported into the back yard of the Burrow.

Ron tossed the bottle to one side and walked into the house without even glancing at Percy. Hermione jumped to her feet and immediately knew that something was wrong. Fred was swearing and storming over to the door where Percy had just stepped inside.

"What did you do you prat?" he demanded as George stood at his side and folded his arms with a similar expression of anger.

"I..." Percy began before looking across to Ron who was signing something furiously to Hermione while Ginny was watching and looking livid as she read the signs for herself, "...he was saying something, trying to say something to me but I don't understand sign language."

"Well learn!" Ginny bellowed as she stomped over to shove the twins out of the way, "You let those old duffers talk to him like that? Talk _at_ him like he was a moron?"

"I...he...they..." Percy wanted to apparate back home and never see his family again.

Fred's eyes were almost bulging out of his head now and he repeated his question.

"What did you do?"

"Percy!" their mother exclaimed with joy as she entered the kitchen and dashed over to embrace he prodigal son, "Oh lovely I knew you wouldn't be able to refuse Ron if he asked you to come."

"Only because he doesn't know how to speak retard!" George hissed and the kitchen fell silent.

It was as if everybody who had ever been in that kitchen over the years had collectively gasped and sucked the atmosphere out of the room. Percy wondered who was going to die first, him or George, and stood rigid as a board while his mother's face grew pale and then brilliant red at an alarming speed.

"What did you just say?" their mother said with a shaking voice that was barely under control as she struggled to keep her volume to a reasonable level.

George cowered and tried to communicate to his mother that it wasn't _him_ she should be erupting at, _he_ didn't think Ron was retarded.

"You don't know what happened mum," Ginny said as she pushed her way between George and her mother, "Percy's neighbours were treating Ron like a bloody novelty and Percy just stood by and let them."

"Ginny," their mother was shaking visibly now and still staring at George, "this has nothing to do with you, keep out of it. I want to hear your brother explain himself to me. I want to hear him justify using that word to me."

Percy was still too much of a sore spot with the family and no matter how much his mother wanted a reconciliation he couldn't see it happening. The twins were just plain unforgiving. Ginny was too defensive over how he had treated her parents and Harry and Ron over the years. Bill and Charlie were disgusted at Percy's lack of interest when they had sent owls to tell him of their father's near fatal attack by the snake, Ron and Ginny being hospitalised after the Department of Mysteries fiasco, and again when Ron had almost died on his seventeenth birthday. Then when he had appeared to see Ron when he was recovering from the injury that rendered him speechless Percy had been vocal about blaming Harry for what had happened. Ron hadn't been able to forgive him for that.

Harry was sitting in the corner and sharing a pained look with Hermione, he had only recently been discharged from St Mungo's himself after Ron and Hermione had talked him out of his guilt complex and allowed himself to heal emotionally as well as physically, while Percy's father grabbed his wife and tried to calm her down.

"Now Molly you know George didn't mean it the way it sounded. He would never call Ron anything of the sort, this is all just a misunderstanding isn't it?"

Then it happened, the Molly Weasley explosion of rage that sent Fred, Ginny and her husband almost running for cover.

"I don't care who called Ron what, that word is never to be used in my house, in my presence, in my life _ever!_" George was averting his eyes as his mother turned from his face to Percy's, "I know you can't understand sign language Percy but that isn't Ron's fault is it? You could have come sooner and learnt with the rest of us." she turned back on George again, "Percy is a polite young man who doesn't scream at random people for being ignorant about how to treat your brother," again she spun to screech into Percy's face again, "I thought better of you than this Percy I really did. I didn't think you would care about appearances so much that you would stand by and let strangers..."

_CRASH!_

Something made an almighty smashing sound on the ceramic tile of the kitchen floor and Percy saw his mother turn around along with everybody else to see the fragments of one of her best china plates scattering across the floor while Ron glared at the small gathering in the doorway and summoned another plate into his hand and raised it warningly.

"Ronnie no!" his mother pleaded, "That's my best china. That's my wedding china!"

Ron stood with the plate raised for a second before crossing the kitchen and thrusting the plate into his mother's hands. He began to sign something that made his mother's eyes water. Just as she reached out for him he stepped away from her and pushed past Percy to go back outside. Hermione ran after him and Ginny tried to follow but Harry grabbed her hand and held her back at his side.

"What did he just say?" Percy asked, feeling as if he was the only person who didn't know why his mother was now crying on George's shoulder.

"Ron just told us that there's one thing worse than somebody calling him retarded and that's a whole afternoon being ruined by people getting angry about it on his behalf," Ginny said as she stared at Percy with unblinking eyes.

"I didn't call him...they didn't either, we wouldn't have. I would never, I assure you. They were just old and tactless that's all mother," Percy tried to explain.

"Percy come all the way inside so I can close the door will you?" his father said before guiding his mother into a chair beside Bill.

Percy stepped further into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. He looked around the room, Charlie was silently seething at him and Fleur was trying not to meet anybody's eyes at all. Finally let his eyes rest upon George.

"I don't suppose you can teach me how to say I'm sorry in sign language can you?" Percy asked him, attempting to let his brother know he wanted nothing more than to be able to tell Ron that he was sorry for what had happened.

George shook his head and walked away, leaving Fred to scowl his reply before doing the same.

"You just have to say it Percy. Ron isn't deaf."

_Bugger, how can I keep forgetting that?_

* * *

Hermione found him sitting by the frozen pond and shivering. She sat down beside him and looked straight ahead without a word. She knew if she just left him to simmer he'd soon cool down and then start bothering her about coming after him without a coat on in this weather.

She was right.

Ron nudged her with his elbow and pointed at her before rubbing his own arms briskly.

"And you won't?" Hermione smiled in response to his statement that she would freeze.

Ron smiled briefly before his face morphed into a scowl and he put his hand on his chest, his fingers splayed and a look of genuine disgust as he moved his palm away from his chest and gestured over his shoulder back to the house.

"You don't hate him," Hermione sighed as she linked her arm with Ron's and rested her head upon his shoulder.

Ron nodded before shivering as an icy breeze rustled through the bare trees and right through their clothing.

"Come on Ron, back inside," Hermione said as she got back to her feet and tried to pull him up with her, "I'm freezing and I'm not going back in there without you so get up."

Ron sighed and tapped the side of his head with his thumb before getting to his feet and lowering his head and rubbing his knuckles on his chest. He was apologising to her, she smiled and hugged him closely. The steam billowed from their nostrils in a white cloud before they set off for the Burrow again.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something by the way," Hermione began nonchalantly as they strolled back, treading in their original footprints leading away from the Burrow, "I've really got it into me to follow up that suggestion of Neville's and join him on the healer training program."

Ron looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," she nodded, "I think that what Neville's doing in the mind damage area is so wonderful that I thought I could look into specialising in a neglected field just like he has done."

Ron pointed at Hermione and rubbed his fist down the side of his upper arm.

"Not a general healer no, I want to be researching ways to prevent permanent damage when there are magical solutions but no time to implement them."

Hermione knew that Ron was onto her right away and he stopped in his tracks and folded his arms across his chest with something of an amused look on his face. She laughed and was glad that he hadn't taken this badly, he really could have done, and trudged back through the disturbed snow towards him to stand on tip toes and kiss him on his cool lips.

"It's just like what happened to Moody's eye and leg isn't it?" she smiled while Ron broke into a broad smile now and nodded sarcastically, "_and you_ alright?"

Ron put his arm around her and they both continued on their way towards the warmth of the Burrow again.

"Well there was a choice wasn't there Ron? It's possible to repair damaged vocal chords with magic just like it's possible to repair a damaged eye but there's only a brief window in which a healer can do it. Your throat was slashed open Ron and the choice was save your life over save your voice and that was the right call, no doubt about it, but maybe there would be a way that future instances like yours could be helped outside that tiny window. Maybe I could research ways to re-grow complex tissue and muscle after some hours rather than minutes."

Ron pointed at himself and then at his head before pointing at Hermione and rubbing his hands together. Then he rubbed his fist against his upper arm and she felt warm all over. Ron had just told her that she would make a wonderful healer. She squeezed his cold hand with her own and realised that he was able to be so much more open and affectionate with her through his nonverbal communication than he ever had been when he had his voice. She still missed it though. Every tone, every word he'd never say, and the deep vibration his speech used to cause in his chest when she rested her head upon it.

And as ever she missed the laughter. If she could spare just one other person from ever being denied the sound of their loved one's laughter she would indeed be a wonderful healer. She didn't need to cure an incurable disease. She didn't have any desire to discover an undiscovered potion or spell to change the lives of witches and wizards the world over. All she needed to do was give back light to blind eyes and laughter to silent lips and birdsong to deaf ears.

She would go to St Mungo's and sign-up first thing in the morning.

* * *

The sky was as bright as it could be through the grey clouds that hung low over the Cumbrian landscape. The fine drizzle made the view from the window nothing but a blur and the nursing staff were doing their daily rounds while the patients watched the television or gazed idly outside at the murky green hills and the dark woodland area in the valley some way away.

One patient wasn't looking anywhere other than into space however.

"Jess dear, hold out your hand I've got your medication for you," one of the nurses said as the blind girl reached out to take the two small pills that were placed into her open palm.

The nurses were a rarity in the magical world. It wasn't often that those witches and wizards who had an interest in healing would chose to pursue the muggle way of treatment. It was incredibly impractical after all, and almost always useless when it came to spell damage, but as far as the Cumbrian rehabilitation clinic was concerned their knowledge of both magical and muggle healing was invaluable. It was at this clinic that those witches and wizards who were physically and mentally traumatised by abuses of magic could heal and adjust back into magical society.

Some never would of course. Some patients would heal and then integrate themselves into muggle society, leaving the wizarding world behind for good, and Jess would probably be one of them. She had an understandable fear of the power that had led to her becoming a target. The power she had that others wanted enough to blind her and torture her to control for their own ends.

The nurse watched as Jess' eyes began to close and nodded to one of the porters waiting with a wheelchair to come and take her to her room for a nap.

It was then that it happened.

The screaming seemed to rattle right through the bones of everyone around her while Jess' knees were drawn up to her chest and her hands clutched her head, her face scrunched up in pain. She was having another vision.

"It's alright Jess. Just let it pass, don't fight it, ride it out and it'll all be over sooner," the nurse was saying while the clinic's porter struggled to hold her jerking body still so she wouldn't hurt herself, "Just let it come and go without a fight, that's it, good girl."

Jess's body loosened up and she relaxed in the porter's arms, panting and sweating while tears rolled down her face and the nurse snapped her fingers at another of her colleagues to get a calming medicine brought to her immediately.

"It's over now, a nice short one wasn't it? Don't worry everything's fine, you're still in the day room with all of us and everything's fine."

The therapist ran from his room to crouch before Jess and take her shaking hands in his.

"Jess it's me, do you want to talk about your vision before you take the sedative?"

"Alan I really don't think now is the time to pester the poor girl for her predictions," the nurse protested but the therapist waved his hand at her as if she was a bothersome fly buzzing about his head.

"Now Jess, is this the same vision as before or is this something new?" he said in a kind but determined tone of voice.

"New," Jess trembled as she wiped her bloodshot eyes with the back of her hand.

Jess was a strange looking young woman. She stumped in chairs in the same way a sack of potatoes would slump against a wall. She was never one for good posture even when she had her sight. Her sight in itself was always pretty poor according to her father. She used to wear glasses with the thickest lenses you could imagine before she was captured and blinded for life. Her life had been a very poor joke and then become an awfully cruel one in such a short space of time. She was a short-sighted seer who was now a totally blind seer. She used to call the wing of the clinic where she would go for treatment the cruel ironies ward. She was a fairly heavyset young woman and her eyelids were always half closed, making her look permanently sleepy. While not fat or ugly in any way she was a unique looking girl and had got used to a fairly lonely life.

"Jess do you want to talk to me about it now, your medicine is here for you otherwise," her therapist was saying as he lifted the hand he was holding up to clasp it around the small glass that was being handed to her.

Jess gripped the glass and brought it to her lips, pushing back the insane curly mess that was her long brown hair away from her tear streaked face, before she hesitated and turned her head to where she guessed her therapist was crouching in front of her.

"It was a man, young, he had red hair and he was burning."

The nurse put a hand onto Jess' shoulder and gave a squeeze of reassurance to let her know she didn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to.

"It's okay nurse Stour," Jess sniffed before continuing, "It was like his skin was on fire, a white hot fire burning through his flesh, and a powerful witch was rising up out of the flames and screaming but she wasn't making any noise. This witch was swallowed up by the white flames and then..." Jess shook her head, "...then it was over."

The therapist rubbed Jess' arm and smiled up at her, even though she couldn't see him doing so, and got to his feet again.

"Well take your medicine and get some sleep now eh?" he said warmly.

Jess drank her medicine down in one and looked revolted momentarily before the porter wheeled her away to her room. Nurse Stour turned to look at the therapist and folded her arms while casting an accusatory glance his way.

"What is it now nurse?" the therapist huffed with a roll of his eyes.

"It's nothing really," nurse Stour said coolly, "I was just wondering if you talk about her personal life and her feelings with half as much interest as you talk about her visions that's all."

"Her visions are disturbing her and it's better for her to let them out rather than keep them in. You must agree with me on that nurse."

"Oh I do agree sir. I just don't agree that every other aspect of her mental recovery is being neglected just so you can publish a medical journal on seers that's all. Jess is not a guinea pig for you to study, she is a patient who needs you and I think that maybe we should find her some kind of alternative mental therapy."

"Oh you do do you?" the therapist asked with his own arms folded across his chest now and drawing himself up to his full height, which wasn't that much taller than nurse Stour really, "Well I'm afraid it's not up to you to take her off my service _nurse_. That is for the medical administrator to do and he..."

"...Just announced his retirement and offered the job to me," Nurse Stour completed the sentence while the therapist's face fell.

"What?"

"You heard me. Now I will let you continue your treatment with Jess until I find a replacement and as soon as that happens I'm taking all of our, let's say, _interesting_ patients away from you."

"This isn't fair Stour, I'm working on ways to help these people," the therapist protested while Nurse Stour turned on her heel and walked away.

"You're helping them by using their case notes in medical books that make you a fortune are you?"

The therapist had no answer and Nurse Stour didn't wait around for one anyway. The clinic was peaceful for another three hours after that. The silence was only broken by the rain hammering against the windowpanes and Jess screaming from her room for somebody to help the poor young man who was burning.


	2. Recuperation

**Recuperation**

Hermione and Neville were doing rounds with Healer Kalra on the spell damage ward and while Hermione was taking pages of notes Neville was simply asking question after question about procedures.

"So I love that you are both invested in this specialty, I really do," Healer Kalra said as he scratched his neat black beard with the tip of his wand, causing a bright yellow streak to appear in it, "but we are going to have to get some work done today as well as learning."

"Oh of course sir," Hermione said as she put her quill away and began to roll up the scroll of parchment she had been scribbling on.

"Sorry sir," Neville said as he lowered his head and shuffled his feet.

"No don't be sorry, enthusiasm is always a good thing but right now I have to set you some demoralising menial tasks," Healer Kalra grinned pleasantly, "Longbottom I need you to administer a full body dressing change to our mummified friend over there and swab all weeping areas with eucalyptus ointment before seeing to Mrs Richardson's feet with a buttercup preparation. The ingredients for that are all sitting at the foot of her bed and I expect you to be done with all that by noon alright?"

Neville looked as if he had just been asked to walk a tightrope backwards while juggling Hagrid and his brother Grawp. He gulped once and nodded.

"Well off you go then chop chop!" Healer Kalra clapped his hands and Neville rushed away to begin unwinding yards of bandages from the wizard laying in the nearest bed, while Hermione became the focus of her mentor's attention, "You Miss Granger will be on the same time limit but one ward over, the closed ward, where you will be giving the female patients bed baths. This has to be done the muggle way I'm afraid, one of our patents is being shipped off to Cumbria this afternoon so no magic is allowed in the closed ward for the time being. Once you've done that I want potions distributed to all patients and I'm afraid we have a lice problem so I'll need you to do some scalp examinations of all patients and staff working on that ward."

Healer Kalra gave Hermione a look of sympathy and patted her on the back.

"I know dear but we've all had to do it at one time or the other. You and Mr Longbottom are on the bottom rung of the ladder and that's where all the crap falls if you pardon my French."

Hermione forced a smile onto her face and gave a confident nod before setting off to the ward next door and bracing herself for a thoroughly nasty morning's work.

* * *

Ron was stuffing his face with the exceptionally delicious breakfast Mrs Weasley had just made for the two of them while Harry scoured the Daily Prophet for the latest fabricated story about him.

"Are you sure that's enough for you Harry dear?" Mrs Weasley fussed while Ron refilled his glass of orange juice until it was practically overflowing.

"I'm stuffed really Mrs Weasley, thank you," Harry smiled.

She smiled down at him before turning to watch Ron downing half the juice in one gulp.

"I suppose I'm comparing how much you eat to this one aren't I?" she chuckled while ruffling Ron's hair in that way that thoroughly annoyed him, "So are you going to meet Hermione and Neville to see how Healer training is going?"

Ron nodded and pointed at Harry before bringing his fingers together.

"Oh you're going with him Harry dear?" Mrs Weasley smiled.

"Yeah I haven't seen Neville in ages, not since I got out of St Mungo's myself actually," Harry nodded and saw Ron smirking at him and pointing at him before bringing the fingers of both hands together and then pulling them apart and bringing his hands together to form a triangular shape. Harry huffed and rolled his eyes, "I'm not getting homesick for the place!"

Ron swallowed his mouthful and raised both his eyebrows smugly. Harry and Mrs Weasley laughed and Ron polished off the rest of his fruit juice before carrying his empty plate over to the sink. The one thing that had changed for the better due to Ron having to use sign language was the fact he no longer talked with his mouth full. Well he did talk, he signed, but that wasn't nearly as gross as when he was opening and closing his mouth while it was stuffed full of pumpkin pasties.

"Now Harry I was thinking," Mrs Weasley began as Ron washed up his plate and tossed Errol the family owl some scraps from his breakfast, "we've got so many empty rooms now that most of the boys have moved out. Well it's silly that you and Ron are still sharing his little room isn't it? Do you want to move into Bill or Charlie's? You could take a look after lunch when I've finished clearing them both out."

Harry's eyes met Ron's while Mrs Weasley babbled on about living arrangements and Ron shook his head uncomfortably so Harry held his tongue for the time being. The truth of the matter was that Ron and Harry had been talking about the impracticality of them both living in Ron's childhood bedroom and the possibility of them getting a flat together. Harry knew that Mrs Weasley would tell him he wasn't ready to set up home by himself so soon after being released from St Mungo's and she would be positively adamant that Ron was going nowhere.

It was true that Ron probably shouldn't live on his own, not for a while at least, but if they got a place on Diagon Alley then they'd be near the twins and Gringotts so Bill and Fleur could stop by after work and Harry was kind of enjoying his position as Ron's unofficial translator when they went out and about. He also liked spending as much time as possible with Ron. He still felt as if he owed him so much and it just felt wrong when either of them went off somewhere on their own.

Harry turned his attention back to the Prophet and scanned the editorial for his or Ron's names. Today seemed to be a Potter Weasley tragedy free day. It was one thing to be pitied for what had happened to the both of them on that day but at least it was nothing near as bad as the accusatory stories about Harry Potter nearly killing his 'expendable' friend at Voldemort's orders. The story from the Prophet's point of view was one of the poor loyal friend who was butchered in the war of wills between Voldemort and Harry. He was the poor innocent who almost died and lost his ability to speak. He was the red head you could spot around London, Hogsmede and Ottery St Catchpole with the ugly great scar across his throat.

Harry was the boy who lived. Harry was the boy who defeated the dark lord. Harry was the boy who slashed his best friend's throat wide open under the Imperius curse and then went insane with guilt. Harry was being avoided like the plague for being a nutter.

"Well there is Percy's room but I still wouldn't trust myself to clean up that mess. I still think some of Fred and George's booby traps are active so I wouldn't feel safe just running a cleaning spell over the place let alone moving you in Harry dear," Mrs Weasley chattered on.

Ron cleared his throat and his mother stopped talking and looked up at him. Ron shrugged and pointed at his eye. He was telling his mother 'We'll see' and she smiled and nodded at him before Ron turned to Harry and made two fists with the index fingers pointing upwards and brought them together before sliding his right palm over his left, the sign for the letter 'H'. Harry nodded and got up from the table.

"You're right, we'd better go and meet Hermione. Thanks for breakfast Mrs Weasley."

Mrs Weasley smiled and hugged Harry before planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Give her my love won't you? Neville too, you should ask him over for Sunday lunch when you see him Ron," Mrs Weasley said as she hugged Ron and kissed him on both cheeks.

Ron wiped his face and rolled his eyes.

"Oh stop it you," she huffed as she slapped her son gently on the arm, "you know you'd miss it if I stopped doing it."

Ron grinned at Harry and put his hand to his armpit.

"It is not gross Ronald Weasley!"

Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing. This was the down side of Ron having to communicate with sign language. There was no such thing as whispering anymore, if you were looking at him you could see exactly what he was saying. Mrs Weasley's face suddenly fell a little and she spoke softly into Ron's ear, Harry could hear her and wished he hadn't been able to.

"Just ignore them all okay? If they stare at you just let them stare and don't let anybody talk to you as if you're stupid. They're the stupid ones you hear?" she smiled a watery smile and Ron nodded.

Mrs Weasley wiped her face quickly and shoved Ron towards Harry who was waiting at the back door so they could step outside and disapparate. Ron paused before leaving and gave his mother another hug and a kiss on the forehead before smiling at her reassuringly and shaking his head and letting his hands hover on either side of it.

"I won't worry, I promise, have a nice afternoon boys."

Harry gave Mrs Weasley a wave and he and Ron stepped out into the yard and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Hermione was applying cold cream to her chapped hands after the dozen or so bed baths she had just given and began to question her desire to work in the healing industry at all.

"Miss Granger I was wondering if you would be so kind as to wait in the closed ward with young Mr Kemp here," Healer Kalra asked her with a smile that suggested there was no other answer to this question other than 'yes', "his escort to the non-magical treatment facility in Cumbria will be here soon and I'm sure he'd appreciate the company."

While Hermione smiled Healer Kalra strode away purposefully, no doubt to give Neville something else to do that would do nothing to improve his day so far. She stepped back inside the closed ward and wandered over to the young wizard called Kemp and sat beside him.

"So Mr Kemp," she smiled warmly as the wizard flinched and cowered away from her, "I hear that Cumbria's beautiful, you're so lucky."

Kemp snorted nervously.

"Huh, lucky," he shuddered and hugged his arms to himself.

Hermione had been told Kemp's story from the medi witch in charge of the closed ward for the weekend. He had been recruited by the Death Eaters to join their ranks but had refused to partake in killing so his whole family was murdered before his eyes and his memory was modified so he had no recollection of the magical world or of his own ability to perform magic. When the war ended Kemp had been living happily for years in the muggle world as a member of muggle society and when his uncle had tracked him down to take him home he had had something of a breakdown. The modification of his memory and the torment of seeing his family slain on top of being ripped from the only world he felt comfortable and safe in and rendered him a gibbering wreck and his uncle had signed the forms to admit his nephew into the muggle style wizarding facility in an attempt to regain his old self.

Hermione wasn't sure he ever would after what she'd seen of him so far. Not even Neville held out much hope and he was always optimistic when it came to brain trauma.

After trying and failing to make conversation for fifteen minutes a nurse from Cumbria arrived, a woman called Stour, and coaxed Kemp out of his chair and into the supportive arms of the two strong helpers she had with her.

"We'll floo you to the nearest point we can get to the magic free zone and that's the last magical thing you'll ever have to do if you choose alright?" she smiled at him warmly.

Kemp shuddered at the thought of flooing but nodded and was led away quietly.

"Oh good," nurse Stour sighed as she turned to face Hermione with a relieved smile, "I hate it when they have to be taken by force, it's so upsetting."

"I can imagine," Hermione nodded before holding out her hand and introducing herself, "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Medi witch or healer?" nurse Stour asked as she took Hermione's hand.

"Neither, I'm a trainee healer right now. I'm hoping to specialise in re-growth of tissue and organs."

Just as nurse Stour was about to respond to this information Hermione's face lit up to see Neville walking with Harry and Ron and explaining to them about his awful day so far.

"Oh nurse Stour," Hermione said as she pointed over the woman's shoulder, "this is my fellow trainee Neville Longbottom, he wants to specialise in mind and brain trauma, memories and the like..."

"Oh," nurse Stour raised both eyebrows and eagerly shook Neville's hand, "very pleased to meet you. It's good to know that the new blood are looking into such neglected fields of healing."

Neville almost blushed and mumbled something while Harry grinned at him and gave him a shove of encouragement to take the compliment properly. Nurse Stour then turned to Harry and Ron and extended her hand to each of them while introducing herself.

"Hello I'm nurse Stour from the non-magical treatment facility in Cumbria, so very nice to meet you both. What is it you hope to specialise in?"

Harry paled suddenly and Ron cast a bemused grin between Hermione and Harry before nudging Harry to explain for the two of them.

"Oh well we're not...we don't..." Harry stammered until Hermione stepped in to rescue him.

"They don't work here at St Mungo's nurse Stour, they're here to see me. This is my best friend Harry and this is my...Ron," Hermione couldn't help but flush in the cheeks.

She wasn't embarrassed about Ron being her boyfriend but she still felt a little light-headed whenever anybody referred to the two of them as a couple for some reason. It was as if she couldn't quite believe her luck. This wasn't only because Ron was ultimately the hardest young wizard to snare due to his thick headedness as far as women were concerned but also the fact that he had very nearly bled to death in her arms not so long ago and she still woke up every morning and reminded herself out loud that he was still here.

_"Your_ very own Ron eh?" nurse Stour seemed to be teasing the young trainee healer while Ron silently chuckled and Harry and Neville couldn't look anywhere without smirking, "I've always wanted one of those, where exactly did you get him?"

Ron made a gripping motion towards his chest before pointing at Hermione and waved one hand over his shoulder with a smirk.

"He says," Hermione began to translate but seemed to be blushing more furiously then ever before.

Harry shook his head and stepped in on her behalf.

"He says that he's belonged to her for ages now," Harry looked back at Ron who was snatching something away from his face before tapping his fingers into his open palm and grinning wickedly, "but she forgot to pay!"

Hermione couldn't help herself but laugh and slapped her boyfriend on the arm while he pretended to cower away from 'his mistress'.

"I pay for you every day Ron Weasley!" Hermione said as the fierce blush mellowed out into a soft pink glow on both cheeks, "With my sanity."

Ron rolled his eyes and tapped the side of his head with his thumb, the sign for 'I know', and the three old room mates told her they would meet her at the cafeteria as soon as she was done. Hermione and nurse Stour watched them leave, the two dark haired boys laughing at something the red head had just signed before answering him at the same time and disappearing around a corner out of sight.

"Sorry, I said I'd meet them for lunch," Hermione began to explain but saw the thoughtful look on the nurse's face, "What's the matter?"

"Ron Weasley?" the nurse frowned and Hermione knew immediately that the nurse was putting two and two together, "and your friend Harry? That's Harry Potter isn't it?"

"Does it matter?" Hermione straightened up and answered defensively.

The nurse broke into a soft smile and shook her head.

"Of course not. The thing is I was about to ask you why your...Ron couldn't speak but as soon as you said his name..."

"You knew the story," Hermione finished the woman's sentence.

"Well yes I did," she nodded sadly, "It's good to see those boys together and happy like that. There was a time when St Mungo's were talking to us about admitting Mr Potter. He really closed off with all the guilt didn't he?"

Hermione let out a deep sigh and nodded.

"Yes, it was very hard for quite a while, nobody could get through to him. Well Ron could, it was Ron who brought him back in the end."

Nurse Stour nodded thoughtfully and looked back down the corridor to where the three figures had left her sight.

"He has a powerful voice your Ron doesn't he?"

Hermione blinked and looked into the woman's understanding eyes.

"Yes," she said in awe at a stranger's ability to see this quality in Ron.

"What is it that he does for a living Miss Granger?" nurse Stour asked as she turned away from the empty corridor to look back into Hermione's wide eyes.

"Um, well he doesn't, the only thing he can really do is get straight into the Auror programme as an Auror or a teacher. He has an amazing proficiency in non-verbal magic now...obviously, and they know that he'd be great but..." Hermione tailed off and looked down at her feet sadly.

"He's seen too much spell damage to last him a lifetime?" nurse Stour offered.

Hermione nodded and felt her eyes burning slightly. She struggled not to blink and make it noticeable.

"Well maybe he could help me out at the clinic, just on a trial basis, I don't like the fellow we've got at the moment. All he wants is to publish his findings and hardly seems to listen to the patients at all."

Hermione's stomach did a back flip inside her. Was this woman talking about giving Ron a job? Was this woman talking about giving Ron a job _helping_ people damaged by magic? She had to restrain herself from running all the way down to the cafeteria to give him the wonderful news right there and then.

"He might not be interested though," nurse Stour muttered to herself, "and it might not work out due to his lack of professional training but..."

Hermione swallowed and drew herself up to her full height to look the nurse in the eye.

"You said the wizard you have at the moment isn't satisfactory and I bet he's fully qualified isn't he?"

Nurse Stour laughed and patted Hermione on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Miss Granger, I'm not trying to talk myself out of a good idea. I just think I should talk to your Ron about it don't you?"

Hermione tried to quell the eruption of joy and excitement bubbling up from inside her and gave the smallest of nods.

"Would you ask him to meet me after you finish your lunch together, and you may have to ask one of his translators as well, I'm afraid I can't..."

"No it's no problem, Harry won't mind, I think he quite enjoys it to be honest, he likes to be of use to Ron after," Hermione didn't want to say 'after being the one who took his voice in the first place', "all he did to help him while he was in the hospital."

"Good," nurse Stour said with a grin as she rubbed her hands together, "now I'll just send word to the clinic that I'll be gone a little longer, you enjoy your lunch with your friends and 'your Ron' and I'll have a chat with him when he comes back."

Hermione almost skipped down to the cafeteria.

* * *

Ron stared at the nurse who sat across from him and Harry and gaped with shock. He began signing frantically and Harry could barely keep up with him.

"I think you misunderstood what I did for Harry. I only made a difference with him because he was my friend," Harry paused in his translation and scowled at Ron, "hey that's not true!" Ron wasn't pausing from his signing however and Harry had to continue despite wanting to correct his best and stupidest friend, "I won't be able to help strangers. I can't even talk to anybody who doesn't understand sign language."

"I don't understand sign language and you're talking to me Ron," nurse Stour said as she sat back in her chair and folded her arms smugly.

Ron looked almost annoyed at this but Harry smiled.

"She's got a point there mate."

Ron made a fist with his index finger extended and pounded it over his heart.

"Why?" Harry continued translating.

He watched as his friend shook his head while pointing at it and then tapped his temple with his thumb and then stroking the underside of his chin with the back of his hand.

"I don't think I know enough," Harry translated sadly and restrained himself from punching Ron in the arm.

"What is it you think you need to know to be able to help these people Ron?" nurse Stour said as she sat forward and leaned over the desk attentively.

Ron huffed and knocked on the top of his head.

"There's two meanings to that sign Ron and I don't like either of them!" Harry snapped at his best friend.

Nurse Stour looked concerned and cast her gaze from one young wizard to the other before Harry looked at her and translated for the friend who had clearly just angered him quite a lot.

"He just made the sign for dumb."

Ron looked down at his feet; seemingly unable to meet either pair of eyes that were focused so intensely on him and Harry jumped up from his chair and began to pace up and down angrily.

"Number one you great pillock," he began to rant, "you are not stupid and I'm bloody sick of hearing you say that you are and number two, you are articulate enough to piss me off just as well as you ever did so you being a mute shouldn't even factor into your decision to give this a go."

"He's right Ron, I'm hoping to ask Mr Potter here if he wouldn't mind being employed as your official translator if you were willing to join us, even if it was only on a temporary basis," nurse Stour added.

Ron swallowed and looked up at the nurse with a blink of comprehension at what she had just said. He pointed over his shoulder at the fuming Harry and made two fists with extended index fingers and brought them together with a frown on his face.

"Um," nurse Stour looked up to Harry for a translation.

"He's asking you for confirmation of what you just said. I'm coming with him if he goes?"

"Of course," nurse Stour nodded eagerly and Ron blew air out of his lungs and ran both his hands through his hair thoughtfully.

"I know what you're thinking," Harry snapped and sat down at his friend's side with a determined look on his face, "and don't make this decision on the basis of getting me a job. Make this decision because it's what you want to do and because you know your good enough to do it well. You're more than good enough Ron."

Ron looked into Harry's eyes and placed both hands in front of his stomach with his fingers pointing upwards.

"If you weren't a good leader or a good communicator or a great confident then why the hell did Dumbledore make you a prefect?" Harry demanded.

Ron twirled his finger around in circles at the side of his head and Harry laughed loudly.

"He was not crazy!"

Ron laughed too and nurse Stour smiled and let out a sigh before getting up from her desk and moving around to stand before Ron.

"Why don't you both come back there with me now and look around. You can meet a few of the patients and see what you think before you make a decision. What do you say Ron?"

Ron looked at Harry, who was still smiling at his best friend with all the faith in the world in him to be able to do whatever he wanted to do, and nodded.

* * *

Ron and Harry walked along the corridors of the Cumbrian treatment facility with a little discomfort. It wasn't because of nerves or fear of the patients, it was knowing that they were without their wands and magic for the first time since they were both eleven years old. Even the environment was non-magical. At least Harry had to spend his summers that way and was kind of used to the adjustment, in fact he seemed to be relaxing more and more with every stop they made on their tour, but Ron was uneasy about this and the feeling wasn't going away.

"We've been an active treatment facility ever since the end of the first war against You-Know-Who and, although things slowed down considerably between the wars, we've been going strong ever since," nurse Stour said as she led them into the day room where, they were told, most of the patients would be that afternoon.

Ron could understand now, in that room surrounded by that many witches and wizards, why Harry was warming to the place. Not one of them seemed to know or care who he was. He wasn't Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world. He wasn't Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He wasn't even Harry Potter the poor kid who slashed his best friend's throat under the Imperius curse and then went crazy with guilt and had to be locked away. He was just Harry, the scruffy looking guy who was translating for the equally scruffy looking mute guy.

Ron smiled as he saw his friends ease and relaxation, not only could he give him a job but also an environment he actually liked being in. The only thing getting in the way of him taking this job was his own insecurities.

"This is Kelly, she comes and goes a lot, she's just bounced back after deciding that she wanted to take a stroll down Diagon Alley after we agreed that she would be better off living in the muggle world for a few months first," Stour said with a disapproving shake of the head at the olive skinned girl with grey hairs streaking her black curly hair and lines deep in her young face, "over here we have the patients who are recovering from the Cruciatus torture. They didn't quite descend into madness but they have a fear of wands now, can't hold one, can't be in the room when somebody else is holding one, they'll all probably become muggles when they eventually recover."

Harry and Ron shared a glance before following Stour deeper into the room where she paused beside an unshaven man in his late twenties who looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and would gladly hit you with it if you annoyed him enough.

"This fellow doesn't have a name, not one that he'll tell us anyway, he has had to be removed from magical society for both his and the public's safety. He'll probably never be able to leave this clinic for the rest of his life I'm afraid, hence the permanent look of annoyance on his face."

Ron made a fist with an extended index finger and hit his chest over his heart with it pointing at the sullen wizard and put his wrists together and jerked them downwards before motioning to his surroundings. Stour looked at Harry.

"Why is he stuck here?" Harry translated.

"He's a magic sapper," nurse Stour sighed with a shake of the head, "poor lad just drains magic involuntarily from anything he comes into contact with. Sometimes he doesn't even have to touch it. It's an extremely rare but very destructive condition. There's been no other cases of it in the last two hundred years or so."

Nurse Stour gestured for them to continue on with her and Harry followed while Ron cast another glance down at the nameless 'sapper' who was staring at him as if considering Ron to see if he was a friend or foe. Just as Ron made to follow the others the sapper lifted his hand and gave Ron a small wave. Ron smiled and waved back; this guy obviously thought Ron was deaf too.

_Why did everybody make that assumption?_

As Ron passed the sapper and left the room he bumped into the doorframe and Harry turned around to see what the soft thudding noise was.

"You alright Ron? Watch where you're going mate," he smiled worriedly.

Ron smiled and shrugged before pointing at himself between the eyes and pushing his hands in a downward motion and pointing at nurse Stour. Harry took a step back towards him and took Ron's elbow.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked as he stared deep into Ron's eyes.

"What is it?" nurse Stour said as she too came back to see what the hold up was.

"He just asked if you wouldn't mind him sitting this next part of the tour out," Harry said before looking back at Ron anxiously as he made a rapid movement around his head and smiled and shrugged again, "I think he's just a little dizzy that's all."

The nurse smiled and gestured to an empty side room for Ron to go and wait for them.

"Of course, I forget that the altitude gets to newcomers sometimes, every other visitor to this place tends to get a little light headed when they first arrive. Is it like a head rush from getting up too fast?"

Ron nodded as he sat down and Stour looked relieved that that was all it was and gave a slight chuckle.

"Well don't let that put you off Ron, you do get acclimatised to it eventually. I'll just show Mr Potter the treatment rooms and we'll be back in two minutes tops alright?"

Ron nodded and waved them to continue. Harry grinned and seemed to stop worrying at this.

"If you need anything or you'd like one of the staff to bring you something to drink just push that red button on the wall there okay?" Stour said as she indicated something called a panic button and Ron nodded and shooed them both away with an impatient huff. This made Harry laugh out loud and the two of them departed without another word.

Ron closed his eyes and realised that the dizziness had long gone. It really was nothing more than a split second head rush after all. His eyes opened again on hearing a tapping outside the room and he watched as a comically misshapen girl felt her way along the corridor with a white stick. Ron would have offered to help her but Harry wasn't there to do it for him and he wasn't sure how this patient would take to a silent stranger suddenly grabbing her by the arm so he made the only sound he could and cleared his throat.

"Who's there?" the girl said as she turned her head towards the sound.

Ron found himself shrugging and looking to the ceiling. How the hell was he supposed to communicate with a blind person? This was exactly the kind of obstacle he was worried about as far as this job was concerned. He got up from the chair, deliberately scraping it loudly against the floor and walking heavily over to her so she knew that he was there.

"Who are you? Are you a patient?"

Ron thought fast and was left with the most basic form of communication he could think of, the same one he and Hermione had used when he first woke up in St Mungo's after the final battle. He gently tapped the girl's shoulder twice.

She jumped with fright and Ron tried to lean over her shoulder to wave for Harry or Stour to come and explain the situation to this poor girl but she seemed to have composed herself again.

"Are you still there?" she said tentatively.

Ron swallowed and took a chance again. He tapped her shoulder once.

"Are you a patient?"

He tapped twice and the girl smiled.

"Is it one tap for yes and two for no?"

Ron heaved a relieved sigh and tapped her once again.

"Okay good, now we're getting somewhere," she said with a smile as she tapped her way further into the room and reached up to feel for Ron's face, "Can't you talk?"

Ron tapped her shoulder twice and she gave a nod of understanding as her fingers found his long nose and her hands settled upon his cheeks.

"Ah there you are," she said as she traced a tactile picture of the person she was talking to into her mind, "you're young aren't you?"

Ron didn't know what she meant by that. He wouldn't say he was old but this girl had to be around about the same age as him, maybe a little older, and he wouldn't say he was young in comparison to her. He found himself shrugging and giving a single tap on her shoulder. Her hands were lifting away from his face now and about to drop back down when one of her fingers glided across the prominent scar across his neck and her breath caught in the back of her throat.

"Oh dear, this feels nasty, is this why you can't talk?"

Ron gave another single tap on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm very sorry," she said with a frown as her hands fell back down to her sides and one hand gripped the white stick again, "was it Death Eaters?"

Ron didn't want to get into the whole story right then and there, especially without a translator present, so he just gave a single tap of confirmation.

The girl pointed at her sightless eyes.

"This was them too."

Ron had nothing to say to that, even if he could speak, so he just looked at his feet awkwardly.

"So I'm Jess, what's your name?" Jess immediately slapped herself on the forehead, "Oh listen to me, what's your name? I'm an idiot just ignore me."

She was laughing and Ron smiled and took her hand and turned it palm upwards before tracing the letters R.O.N. onto it with his finger very slowly.

"Ron?" Jess confirmed and he tapped her shoulder to let her know she had understood him correctly, "Well at least it was a short name or we'd have been here all day!" she laughed.

Ron laughed at this too but stopped when he saw Jess frowning.

"Are you laughing or did you just not find that very funny?"

Ron took Jess' hand again and lifted it to his face and grinned so she could feel it.

"Oh good, I thought I'd upset you."

He let her hand drop and gave her two short taps on the shoulder again.

"So you can't even laugh then?" Jess asked him sadly, "You don't make any noise when you laugh?"

Ron gave another two taps and she looked very unhappy.

"Oh Merlin, that's got to be worse than not being able to talk I reckon."

Ron's eyes shot wide open and realised that this girl seemed to get him. She seemed to know what kind of person he was and he hadn't even needed a translator to achieve that with her. He gave a single tap on her shoulder.

This was amazing; he'd had a conversation and even managed to tell somebody his name without signs or anybody to translate for him. Sure it was incredibly difficult and frustrating but he could do it. He wasn't totally incapable of talking on his own after all. He was talking to a blind person without making a sound.

Jess had been about to say something more when two sets of footsteps sounded and she tapped her way back out of the room and looked towards the sound.

"Hello?"

"Hello Jess," nurse Stour said warmly before spotting Ron following her out with a smile and her face fell, "Oh dear, Jess do you know that there was somebody in there with you?"

Jess looked slightly offended at this.

"I'm blind not stupid!"

Ron laughed at this, she sounded just like him when he was huffing about people treating him as if he was deaf. Harry noticed Ron's expression and smiled curiously at his best friend.

"No I know, I'm sorry Jess, it's just that Ron communicates with sign language so he wouldn't have been able to talk to you. I'd hate to think you thought you were being ignored," nurse Stour said as she took Jess' arm in readiness to guide her to where she was going.

"I know nurse Stour, we had quite a nice little chat, he got hurt by the Death Eaters just like me and now he can't talk," Ron's face fell when he saw Harry's do the same at the perpetrator of his attack being called a Death Eater, Ron was about to sign an explanation but Jess was still talking, "he says he's not a patient though."

"No Jess he's going to be working here, well hopefully anyway," Stour corrected herself with a glance towards Ron before going on, "and I was just showing him around the place."

"Coming to work here as a healer?" Jess asked excitedly.

"Well no, more like a replacement for your therapist Jess. Would you like to talk to Ron rather than him from now on?"

"Definitely!" Jess said with wide, scarred eyes and nurse Stour laughed just as Jess turned around to face the spot she had been communicating with Ron earlier, "Are you coming back again Ron? Are you coming back to work here?"

Ron looked from the still uneasy Harry over to the delighted nurse Stour before sighing and giving Jess a single tap on the shoulder. She squealed with joy and did a little hop before the beaming nurse Stour persuaded her to go back to her room for a rest.

Ron looked at Harry and his smile faded just as Harry began to adopt a false one of his own. Ron began to sign to his best friend that they had only been talking via 'yes' and 'no' and there was no way to explain about his injury without Harry there to help.

"Don't worry mate, I understand okay?" Harry said, still with that infuriating fake smile on his face.

Ron shook his head vigorously as he pointed at Harry before pounding on his chest with his fists.

"I know Ron okay, you don't have to keep telling me, I know it's not my fault but it was still me who did it and nothing can change that can it?" Harry shrugged before turning to walk away.

Ron silently growled and slammed his fist into the door beside him, causing a loud bang that made Harry spin around to stare at his angry friend while a couple of staff members ran to assist what they obviously thought was a distressed patient.

"No it's okay, he's just getting my attention," Harry explained to them with a hand raised to keep them both back, "he's got a rotten temper on him voice or no voice."

Ron narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest while Harry took a step closer and lowered his head guiltily.

"Listen I'm getting better about forgiving myself but Godric Ron you've got to give me time y'know? I came out of my self imposed funk for you didn't I?" Harry pleaded as he lifted his head and met Ron's softening glare, "I just need to get past the fact that a Death Eater didn't give you that scar, Voldemort didn't give you that scar, _I_ gave it to you. You almost died at _my _hands Ron and it'll take time for me to be as okay with that as you are."

Ron tapped the side of his head with his thumb and gestured behind Harry with a smile.

"Yeah, let's go home and tell your mum that we've got a job," Harry smiled.

Ron sighed and knew that Harry was thinking the exact same thing he was. Now that they had an income they could move out and get their own place just like they wanted. Ron's mum wasn't going to like this news one little bit.


	3. Senseless

**Senseless**

"No!"

It was everything they had expected and worse.

"No I won't allow it!"

They had both given up arguing with her and decided to leave it to Ron's father to attempt to calm his wife down after both Ginny and the twins had been chased from the room being told to mind their own business.

"It's too soon for both of you. No!"

Harry saw Hermione taking Ron's hand from behind his back. She had hidden in the hallway with the others and was giving Ron silent encouragement to stand his ground with his over-protective mother. She did everything she could to stay out of sight of the Weasley matriarch however, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the screech that had all but ruptured Ginny's eardrums when she had boldly stepped in on behalf of her boyfriend and her brother.

"You're not ready boys. Harry's only just come out of the hospital himself and you Ronnie..." Mrs Weasley was saying by way of an explanation to her previous declaration that the two of them were not moving out of the Burrow and into the nice little flat they had found in Diagon Alley when she was interrupted.

Well not interrupted so to speak. Ron simply folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow as if daring his mother to keep on going down that road of argument. It was a road that only led to broken crockery and a crying Mrs Weasley.

"...Ronnie dear you know I don't think you're incapable of looking after yourself, you know that don't you?"

Ron shrugged petulantly.

"You _do!_" Mrs Weasley snapped before being held on to by her husband, bravely fighting to keep mother and son from another of their apocalyptic rows.

It was incredible to see a mute engage in a shouting match but Ron was amazing at it. He was ten times more aggressive and dominant then he had ever been when he had the ability to shout. He would argue with everybody who gave him good reason, he'd even argued with Harry that day he'd finally made his breakthrough, and the twin's positively encouraged Ron to lose his rag simply because they enjoyed seeing their little brother fuming just as he did in the good old days. Mrs Weasley seemed to always be on the receiving end of Ron's wrath more and more now though. She was always over protective of her children, whether they were children or not anymore, and especially her two _babies_ Ron and Ginny.

After almost losing Ron in the final battle and having to watch him being pitied, frustrated, patronised and practically made a magical martyr she had been positively fierce in her motherly instincts to keep him safe and happy. She would take enormous pride in everything he managed to achieve despite his injury but one thing she couldn't accept was his need for independence.

"I just want to be nearby for you Ron," Mrs Weasley tried to explain through her tears, "you and Harry, you've both been through so much and I don't think you should be alone so soon."

"Molly you heard the twins," Mr Weasley ventured bravely, "the boys will only be a few doors away from their shop and they'll pop in all the time, so will Bill and Fleur, they work right across the road in Gringotts don't they?"

"It's not the same!" Mrs Weasley barked as she wrenched her arm away from her husband's grip and turned to stare out of the kitchen window.

This was one thing Ron couldn't abide, people turning their back on him, is was just as rude as if somebody had plunged their fingers into their ears and closed their eyes while Harry had been trying to talk to them. Both Mr Weasley and Harry cringed in readiness while Hermione gave an involuntary squeal and gripped Ron's hand in hers even tighter than before while Ron flicked his wand and summoned a teacup from the sideboard into his waiting hand.

"Please don't smash anything Ronnie," Mrs Weasley sniffed, still with her back to her livid son, "I hate the sound of breaking china more than you'll ever know. It's the sound of my heart breaking over you dear and I can't bear it just now."

Ron was still standing with his arm raised, ready to hurl the teacup to the floor to get his mother to turn around, and seemed to be considering what to do. He let out a sigh and lowered the arm that clutched the teacup and twisted his fingers out from Hermione's vice like grip behind him. He set the cup down on the kitchen table and crossed the room to stand behind his mother who still had her back to him. Her shoulders were shaking now.

"I'm not ignoring you Ronnie, I promise, I just don't want you to see me like this," Mrs Weasley sniffed again.

Ron looked over his shoulder to Harry, Hermione and the twins and seemed to be pleading with them for the right thing to do in this situation. Ginny pushed her way past them all and nodded to her brother with Weasley determination. Ron nodded back and turned back to face his mother again. He tapped her on the shoulder and the older woman made herself turn around to face her son.

Harry frowned as he tried to read what Ron was saying to his mother from behind but he could only make out snippets. He was telling his mother something about kicking up a stink and that something would make no difference. Ginny smiled and nudged Harry with her elbow before filling in a couple of the blanks as she was at a better angle to him.

"Ron's pointing out that she'd still make this much of a fuss if he was in one piece and made of steel. He's telling her to stop using you and him and your conditions as the real reason she doesn't want you to leave home."

Fred shook his head at the bravery of his youngest brother while George looked greatly impressed. Hermione was smiling sadly and Ginny took Harry's hand with a smile before turning back to see Mrs Weasley and Ron hugging. Ron wiped his mother's tear streaked face with the sleeve of his sweatshirt before summoning the cup back into his hand from the table and handing it back to his mother.

Ron rubbed his knuckles on his chest, the sign for sorry, before telling his mother how frustrated she could get him and that he'd try to stop smashing stuff in order to make a point in future.

"You'll try?" Mrs Weasley gave a watery chuckle.

Ron laughed at this too and shrugged before putting his hand to his heart and then making a dropping motion with both hands followed by the splaying of his fingers. His mother laughed at this and Mr Weasley shook his head and looked to the heavens with a mumble.

"You're right Ronnie, you always did love breaking stuff!" Fred sneered from the doorway, "My toy broomstick ring any bells?"

Ron scowled over his shoulder at Fred and gave him the finger.

"Ronnie!" his mother exclaimed as she slapped her son gently on the arm while the twins laughed at getting their little brother into even more trouble.

Ron looked back at her and rolled his eyes before pointing at himself and stroking the underside of his chin with the back of his hand and gesturing over his shoulder to the small gathering behind him. Then he linked his hands to make a circular motion.

"Is that about us? What's he saying mum?" George demanded.

"He's telling me he's had enough of families for the time being," Molly chuckled as she wiped another tear from her eye and watched as Ron pointed at himself and then pinched both thumbs and forefingers together before drawing them apart as if he was tying a shoelace, "he needs some peace."

Harry sniggered at this. Despite being a mute now Ron was the noisiest person Harry had ever spent time with. It was all that fist banging and finger snapping to get attention when somebody wasn't looking his way.

Ron looked into his mother's bloodshot eyes, lowering his head to her level, and pointed at her chest, just where her heart would be and gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes dear, I'm fine, you still haven't broken it yet."

Ron feigned disappointment and mimed cursing under his breath. Mrs Weasley laughed loudly at that and slapped her son on the arm once again, harder but even more playfully than the last time. Ron grinned at her before his face became serious again and he gestured out the kitchen window and shook his head while shaking his hands downwards in front of his chest before pointing with determination at himself. His mother swallowed and nodded with equal determination before hugging him again.

The dispute was over. Harry and Ron were moving out that weekend. Ron had made his case pretty well for both of them with that last thing he had told his mother.

_They can't hurt me._

* * *

"Hello Ron!"

Ron turned to look at Harry with a confused expression on his face before waving his hand in front of Jess' face and seeing no reaction.

Ron frowned while holding both hands in front of his stomach, fingers pointing upwards, and then tapping the side of his head with his thumb before pointing into his chest.

"How d'you know it's me?" Harry translated with a smile.

Jess gave a girlish chuckle before feeling for a chair at her side and patting the seat with her hand.

"Well I could say that I recognised your smell but I'd be lying, I'm not as good as that yet, but I did recognise you banging on the table top in the day room just now to get somebody's attention."

Ron smiled and signed something else to Jess that Harry speedily translated for him.

"I don't like being ignored."

Jess began to feel around for another chair as she spoke.

"It's funny talking to you like this Ron. It's nice though; your translator's got a kind voice. Here sit, both of you."

Ron looked at Harry's smug expression and rolled his eyes before the two of them took up seats on either side of Jess. Ron slid his hand over his other palm before making a gripping motion towards his chest with both hands before shaking his finger at Jess with a playful scowl. Harry laughed at this before translating.

"Harry's mine you can't have him!"

Jess laughed, a kind of donkey bray sounding laugh, and clutched her sides just as nurse Stour leaned into the room and cleared her throat.

"Sorry to interrupt the three of you but I understand you're still suffering from altitude sickness Ron. Are you sure you're alright to continue?"

Ron nodded and gestured through the wall to the day room.

"He's fine nurse Stour, he only felt bad in the day room, and it's passed now."

"Oh good," the woman smiled, "well I'll leave you to it."

Nurse Stour closed the door behind her and Ron turned back to face Jess who was frowning into the space between him and Harry. Ron twirled his index fingers and shrugged.

"What's up?" Harry translated.

"Nothing," Jess said with a thoughtful shrug, "I was just being nosey that's all. Are you feeling alright Ron?"

Ron nodded and smiled.

"Yeah he's fine Jess, really, the air's just a little thin up here and he gets a bit dizzy when we first arrive."

Jess fumbled in Ron's direction before finding his knee and giving it a pat.

"We could sit on the floor if you like, that's a bit lower."

Ron shook with silent laughter and Harry had to fight back his own in order to reassure Jess that he was not only better now but getting better still in her company. This made Jess seem delighted and they soon began to talk openly about anything and everything.

Some topics left Harry wishing he wasn't there at all. Jess had told them how her visions of the future were sometimes very painful, both physically and mentally, and that she was already fearful of the magical world because of all the awful things she had seen inside her own head. She had grown up during Voldemort's first reign of terror and had seen such atrocities in graphic detail that she would refuse to go to sleep and kept running away, hoping the visions wouldn't be able to find her.

As an adult during the second rise of Voldemort she was struck down by the visions again. She described murders and torture and the death of Albus Dumbledore to a tee. It made Harry shudder and Ron had put his hand on Harry's back for reassurance during the vivid description of Voldemort's return to power and Jess' tears over the dead boy and the bleeding boy tied to the headstone.

All these visions had left Jess with a crippling fear of all things magical. She refused to pick up a wand and couldn't bear to see somebody else wielding one anywhere near her. She told Ron and Harry about the night the Death Eaters had come to her remote family home and murdered her parents before dragging her away. They had discovered her 'sight' and wanted to exploit it for their own ends. They would torture her and near starve her before realising that she could never give in to the visions completely while she could see the wands, her anxiety even greater than her so called gift, and they blinded her so she wouldn't be distracted by the sight of wands anymore.

Ron did that silent internal whisper to himself that Harry knew was his friend swearing and he met Ron's eyes and shared the same expression of disgust and horror at the way Jess had been abused simply for a gift she didn't want.

"Aurors came for me and took me to St Mungo's but I wouldn't let them use magic on my eyes. I won't ever let anybody use magic near me let alone on me," Jess said calmly.

Harry assumed that she must have told this story so many times now that she was emotionally detached to it. Ron seemed to be thinking the same thing and was building himself up to do something. Harry saw Ron's apologetic glance in his direction before returning his focus upon Jess and starting to sign.

He shook his head and signed the letters D.E. before making a gripping and pulling motion away from his throat. Harry felt sick as he began to translate for his best friend in the world.

"It wasn't Death Eaters who took away my voice."

Ron still wasn't looking at Harry as he continued. He made a 'v' sign on the palm of his hand, pointed at the fourth finger on his left hand, tapped his index finger against his palm, made the shape of a letter 'D' using his thumb and forefinger on one hand and the index finger on the other, then he pointed at his index finger. Harry knew exactly what Ron was spelling and he tried to jump in and say it for Jess but Ron seemed to be determined to finish. Ron was slamming three fingers onto his open palm before pointing at his fourth finger again; he curled his index finger and hit it against his open palm before finishing with the shape of the letter 'T' being formed with both hands.

"It was Voldemort," Harry said before swallowing.

Jess gasped and Harry felt himself going green.

"He put my best friend under the Imperius curse and ordered him to kill me," Harry translated while Ron still didn't meet his eyes.

Jess had her hands clamped over her mouth now and Harry felt himself shaking involuntarily. Ron put two fingers to his forehead and moved them away and made the letter 'V' again while Harry began to translate the story he knew so horrifyingly well but had refused to remember from that awful day onwards.

"His name was the last thing I ever said. I'd never said it before and I can't say it again," Harry felt a chill running down his spine as Ron finally turned to meet his eyes and smiled, Harry finished the translation, "but lucky for me, I have a translator who isn't afraid of his name any more than I am so he can say it for me."

Harry's voice cracked as he spoke the last of Ron's words.

"He made your friend cut you?" Jess said sadly as she reached out for Ron's knee again.

Ron looked back at her and nodded. He flicked the tip of his nose with his thumb before making the same dropping motion he had made in his mother's kitchen earlier that morning.

"But I was lucky he broke it," Harry struggled on, "he was strong enough to break the curse just in time and he didn't kill me. He saved me."

Harry felt his eyes burning and wished that Ron and Jess would change the subject. He hated to see Ron talk about that awful day and it was killing him to have to be the one to recite the story to others.

Ron made a pinching motion away from his throat and gestured to Harry before shaking his head and pounding his fists upon his chest.

"He wishes his friend didn't keep blaming himself," Harry choked.

Jess frowned and turned her head vaguely in Harry's direction with a concerned frown.

"Are you alright Harry?" she asked as she felt in mid-air for his knee to pat as she had done with Ron, "You sound funny."

"I'm fine Jess," Harry said with an unnecessary smile, "really, I am."

Ron went on to explain to Jess that magic had saved his life and it was magic and wands that made his life easier to live without a voice. Jess understood what he was trying to tell her, that magic could and in the main was used for good, but still didn't think she would ever be able to be around people with wands.

"Not even people I trusted," she said sadly.

Ron and Harry said their goodbyes to Jess and the others at the clinic before nurse Stour had bounded over to them to enquire how their first day had gone. Harry noticed that Ron was rubbing his head and blinking, as if trying to clear his vision, and answered for both of them.

"It was great nurse Stour. It's nice to feel like we're actually helping people a bit."

"Oh no, you're helping more than just a bit," she beamed, "I've never heard Jess laugh so loudly and then talk so openly for such a long time."

Ron smiled at this and seemed to be over his second dizzy spell of the afternoon. Nurse Stour leaned in close and both Harry and Ron did the same with intrigued looks on their faces.

"Did Jess happen to talk about any of her visions to either of you?" Stour asked conspiratorially.

Ron and Harry leaned back again and shared a frown before shaking their heads.

"To be honest we didn't even think to ask her about them after she described the ones she had as a kid," Harry shrugged.

Ron hit his chest over his heart with a fist and extended index finger.

"Why?" Harry translated, "were we supposed to?"

The woman looked absolutely delighted and embraced the pair of them in one enormous hug.

"No. You did everything I expected of you and more. You listened to all of them. I knew I was right about you Ron."

Ron and Harry were blushing slightly when they were eventually released and Harry mumbled a goodbye before they left to make the long walk out to the border between the magic free area and the pick-up point for their wands where they could apparate back to London.

* * *

Ron answered the front door with a huge grin on his face and held his hands in front of him, wagging his fingers back and forth while Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes simultaneously and stepped inside the flat.

"Welcome to Chez Potter Weasley, or Weasley Potter, we haven't decided yet," Harry smiled as he gave Ginny a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, Ron's already given us the big welcome thanks," Ginny said as she looked around the sparse living room.

Ron prodded Harry in the back as he passed and interlaced his fingers before making an 'o' shape with finger and thumb and holding it at the top of his other index finger with both eyebrows raised.

"That's not decided yet," Harry said firmly while Ron disappeared into another room nodding, "No it isn't!"

"So it's definitely going to be Weasley Potter then eh Hermione?" Ginny smirked while Harry scowled.

"Why do you Weasley's always get your own way?" Harry huffed while Ron emerged from the room carrying a box and wearing a wicked smile on his face, "P comes before W you know?"

Hermione shook her head as she sat down upon a smooshy beanbag type thing.

"You sound like a married couple," Hermione sighed as she sunk into the strange velvety marshmallow.

Ron shrugged and pointed at Harry while shaking his head and then pointing to his own left ring finger and laughing.

"Why do I have to buy the rings?" Harry protested while Ginny chuckled and heaved Hermione out of the bean bag that was threatening to engulf her entirely.

"What on earth is this thing anyway?" Hermione said as she looked back at the mound of upholstery.

"It's our sofa," Harry explained as he withdrew his wand, "we haven't got around to inflating it yet."

Harry flicked his wand at the lump, which filled out and firmed up into a three-seated sofa with quite an ugly pattern on it. Ron scowled at it and reached into the box he had carried into the living room to remove a large orange blanket and tossed it over the foul-looking sofa.

"It's one of mum's donations to the boys' independence," Ginny explained as Hermione took a chance and sat back down again.

"So has she been round to check up on you both yet then?" Hermione said as she bounced up and down gently on the rigid sofa, slightly impressed at how sturdy it now was.

Ron rolled his eyes to the stained ceiling and gave a tut before holding up his hand and splaying his fingers wide.

"Five times?" Ginny exclaimed with a laugh.

Ron nodded and pointed to the back of his wrist as if he was wearing a watch and drew a circle with his index finger.

"In an hour!" Hermione gasped.

Ron nodded again and Ginny shook her head and threw herself on the sofa beside Hermione.

"We're expecting her again any minute now," Harry chuckled.

Ron shoved the box he had dumped on the floor to one side and wandered over to Hermione to sit on the arm of the sofa beside her. She took his hand in hers and gave a squeeze before looking up at him and asking him how his and Harry's first day had gone.

Ron was being modest with his shrugged 'so-so' answer but Harry told them that he thought they'd done really well. Ron gave him a thankful smile and Harry knew that Ron didn't want to gush about a day in which he explained in depth to a total stranger exactly what Harry had been forced to do to him.

Ron twirled both his index fingers and shrugged before grazing his fist down the side of his upper arm and looking quizzically at Hermione.

"It's fine. Neville and I are still doing all the scummy work that nobody else wants to do but we're on the bottom rung of a very tall ladder so we can't expect anything else really can we?"

Ron's frown deepened and he pointed at Hermione and gave a thumbs up before moving his hand in a downward motion as if pushing down a heavy weight.

"No more than you do I think," Hermione said in response to Ron's statement that she looked tired, "Is it the travelling in and out of the non-magical area?"

Ron shook his head and shrugged before grinning amiably at her and getting up from the sofa and heading into the kitchen to make everyone some tea. Harry watched Hermione's eyes following him the whole way before she shared a concerned glance with Ginny who went straight to the point in her unsubtle Weasley way.

"What's up Harry?"

Harry moved out of Ron's earshot and crouched down to reassure both Ginny and Hermione that everything was fine.

"The clinic's just a bit high up that's all. The nurse warned us that some visitors suffer from altitude sickness when they first start coming but they grow accustomed to it soon enough."

"So Ron's just getting a bit groggy at work then?" Hermione frowned as she sat back in her seat.

"Just a bit dizzy that's all I swear," Harry smiled at her with a shrug, "the air's a little thin."

Mrs Weasley came by a further three times before Ginny wrestled her back home and told Harry and Ron that she would sit on her to keep her at the Burrow if needs be. This amused Ron greatly. Hermione helped Ron transfigure some furniture for his room and when Harry leaned in to ask Hermione if she was flooing home or wanted one of them to walk her to a safe apparition point he saw that the two of them were fast asleep on top of the covers on Ron's bed.

Harry grabbed one of the thick blankets from the boxes still strewn all over Ron's floor and spread it over them before extinguishing the candles and closing the door behind him.

He longed for the nights when Ginny would stay over with him but she was still adamant that they take things very slowly. Harry wondered if it was because she felt weird to be sleeping with her boyfriend under the same roof as her closest brother or if she was waiting for some kind of special occasion like his birthday or her birthday or Merlin's birthday.

Harry made a mental note to look up the date of Merlin's birthday.

* * *

Ron pointed at himself between the eyes and pushed his hands in a downward motion before pointing at the 'sapper'.

"Mind if I sit down?" Harry translated.

Ron frowned and waited. The sapper didn't meet his eyes or even acknowledge that anybody had spoken. Ron looked to Harry and shrugged. The two of them pulled up a chair each and sat opposite the brooding wizard.

Ron thought for a moment before glancing at Harry who gave him a nod of encouragement and he put two fingers to his forehead and moved them away to point at the sapper.

"What's your name?" Harry translated.

The sapper shifted in his seat and lowered his head even more. Ron sat up straight in his own seat and pointed at himself before curling his index finger and holding it against his open palm, pointing at his fourth finger, and then tapping two fingers flat against his palm.

"This is Ron," Harry said, "and I'm his translator, Harry."

Ron and Harry shared another uncomfortable glance before Harry shrugged and looked at a loss to suggest anything to try. Ron extended his hand for the sapper to shake but he squirmed away from it and hissed.

"Don't touch me!"

Ron quickly rubbed his knuckles against his chest in a panic.

"I'm sorry," Harry translated uneasily as he watched the sapper scrape his chair a little further away from the two of them.

Ron pointed at himself and banged his fists together while extending his index fingers on both hands and then pointing at the sapper.

"I just wanted to meet you."

"Why?" the sapper snarled, almost like a caged animal.

Ron thought about this for a second before pointing at his eye and then away from himself and towards the sapper.

"I wanted to check on you," Harry watched as Ron pointed both fingers at the sapper and then turned his thumbs up sadly, "to see if you were okay."

"Are_ you _okay?" the sapper said in a barely audible growl.

Ron held both his hands at the side of his head and let them hover slightly before pointing at the sapper.

"I'm worried about you."

"You don't know me," the sapper grunted.

Ron looked annoyed now and waved his hand back and forth between the two of them.

"Tell me then," Harry said, with equal exasperation.

The sapper jumped up from his seat and stormed out of the room while muttering over his shoulder.

"Get him away from me before he falls down."

Ron and Harry stared at each other in shock before Harry finally broke the silence.

"Which one of us d'you think it was he didn't like?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron shrugged and then pointed at Harry and then put his hand to his armpit and laughed.

"I do not smell!" Harry tried to sound offended but he too was laughing now, "Right are we going to get another one in before we head home then?"

Ron nodded and got to his feet before sitting down again quickly. Harry instinctively reached out for his friend to steady him but Ron was smiling and shaking his head.

"You can't still be suffering from altitude sickness, you've been up here all day and it's been fine," Harry said while watching Ron getting up again.

Ron shrugged it off, saying he had got up too fast, and the two of them went to talk to a patient who was soon to be released back into the magical world.

* * *

The fire was crackling and the smell of the wood burning was comforting and felt safe. She could hear slow even breaths all around her, most of the others had gone to bed, the ones who remained in the day room were dozing off or mesmerised by the fire. Some would watch it in fear of the flames turning green and a magical invader bursting through, others would watch them just for something to do other than think about whatever frightened them about the darkness.

Jess never was frightened of the dark, darkness was her home, it was her security. The thing that frightened Jess was the flashes before her eyes that showed her all sorts of dreadful things happening to people. The flashes that reminded her what had taken the light from her eyes were what she dreaded to see. Those flashes that came just before an awful vision were always stirring in the shadows, threatening to come out.

Just like now.

Jess curled up into a ball as the vision assaulted her. She saw the red haired young man again. He was in some kind of trouble, some sort of distress but he wasn't calling for help or screaming or shouting in any kind of pain. But there must have been pain Jess thought. The red headed man had blood pouring from his nose and his eyes were rolling back in his head while a brilliant yellow light burst out of him and shot straight at Jess who started screaming and clutching her head. People were gripping her arms now and voices were trying to calm her down but all she saw was the yellow lightning surging from the bleeding young man and the bright white light that was swallowing him up from behind until there was nothing left but white light and yellow fork lightning.


	4. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

**Out of Sight, Out of Mind**

Harry and Ginny had been kissing on the sofa for so long now that Harry could no longer feel his lips. She had been slowly warming to the idea of sleeping over at the flat, 'but only sleeping' she had specified, and it was beginning to look as if tonight might be the night. Ron had gone straight to bed as soon as he got home that afternoon with a headache and Hermione hadn't been over for four days now due to her growing workload at St Mungo's.

The only reason Harry was still on edge about the progression of his relationship with Ginny that evening was that the twins hadn't stopped by for a couple of days and this meant that the fireplace could ignite any time now and they could blunder out into the living room and totally kill the mood.

"Harry?" Ginny breathed into his ear, causing his whole body to shiver, "I think I'd better go home now."

Harry looked down into Ginny's eyes and heaved a sigh of resignation.

"Yeah?" he frowned half-heartedly.

"Yeah," she nodded with a sympathetic smile, "and I think you should get an early night too y'know? You and Ron have been working really hard at that place and I'm sure it's not just talking its toll on him is it?"

Harry shifted around so Ginny could settle her head in the crook of his neck.

"It's just the damn altitude sickness that's all. Ron's not managed to shake it off like we all expected him to."

Ginny tilted her head to cast a sceptical gaze up at her boyfriend.

"Harry altitude sickness doesn't give you migraines hours later and it fades as a person gets used to it too. You two are being overworked at that place and that commute sounds like the last thing you need. Why does it have to be so remote and why do you have to get there using muggle methods?"

Harry rolled his eyes and gave a tut.

"It's a magic-free area Ginny. You can't apparate into a magic free area. There are anti magic wards around it and no magic can be used within. It's what the patients need."

Ginny sighed and snuggled into Harry's side, giving him a squeeze, before mumbling something so low that Harry had to ask her to repeat herself.

"I said that if Ron's still struggling the next time I come round I'm telling mum and she'll be here all night every night and I'm sure you don't want that do you? Neither of you."

The fireplace exploded in green flames before Harry could decide between warning Ginny to keep her trap shut or reassure her that he and Ron were just fine. They both jumped apart and saw Mrs Weasley's face emerging from the flames and looking around the room.

"Oh there you are Ginny dear," she said when she found her daughter straightening her crumpled skirt, "I think it's time you came home don't you? Harry and your brother have got a busy day tomorrow and don't need you keeping them up all night."

"I'm coming mum," Ginny said, still a little too flustered to snap at her mother for treating her as if she was a child, "Goodnight Harry."

Ginny bent over and gave Harry a peck on the cheek before heading towards the fireplace.

"Aren't you going to say goodnight to your brother Ginny?" Mrs Weasley said primly.

"He's gone to bed already mum."

Mrs Weasley immediately picked up on this as slightly strange news but seemed to decide not to comment on it. Harry waved her off as her head disappeared from the fireplace and Ginny took a handful of floo powder to head back to the Burrow. Harry hoped that Ginny wasn't in for the questioning about Ron's welfare when she got back. He also hoped that Ginny wouldn't confide what she really thought about that subject either.

It was bad enough that Harry had already been worrying about Ron's supposed 'altitude sickness' for over a week now.

* * *

"It was the same person but now he's burning," Jess was explaining her latest vision to Ron and Harry at the clinic, "The white light is burning him and he just disappears in it."

Harry was having trouble this afternoon with his translating duties. Well not the whole afternoon, only since they had been talking to Jess really. Ron had been using signs for words that Harry didn't know to interpret and then his best friend began using words that even _he_ didn't seem to have signs for and was now writing on his pad and handing it to Harry to read aloud to Jess more and more often.

Ron was writing such clinical stuff and so fast that it was almost like watching Hermione taking notes in class at Hogwarts.

"So it's a reoccurring vision involving the same people every time?" Harry read from the pad and Jess frowned and nodded.

Ron was already scribbling and soon stabbed his finger down at the pad, ordering Harry to read what he had just written immediately.

"Is this a tactile vision or do you experience it as if you were in a dream?" Harry turned to his friend in astonishment, "Ron what the...?"

Ron waved his hand to silence Harry and stared intently at Jess with unblinking eyes.

"I don't know what you mean Ron. Are you alright?" Jess was asking as she fumbled for him to reassure herself that she was really talking to the same person.

Ron jumped up from his seat and stepped out of her reach while mouthing something that Harry could've sworn was 'Don't touch him'.

_Him?_

Ron paced up and down the room a few times before taking a deep breath and sitting down again. Jess sat in a nervous silence and Harry stared into his friend's face as Ron blinked a couple of times before turning to Harry and smiling. On seeing Harry's concerned expression Ron's face fell and he twirled his fingers and gave a shrug.

"What happened?" Harry repeated in astonishment, "I was about to ask you the same thing mate. Are you sure you're alright?"

Ron looked totally bewildered and turned from Jess to Harry with a deep frown setting into his forehead. The red head shrugged and gave a thumbs up.

"Harry what's happening?" Jess said nervously.

"Um Ron's just a little out-of-sorts today," Harry began to explain while Ron stared at his friend at a total loss as to what he was on about, "Do you want to go on or do you want to talk about anything else with us?"

"No it's fine, I'm fine for today I think," Jess reached out for Ron again, "Just get some rest alright Ron. I'm getting worried about you."

Ron was still utterly lost it seemed but smiled and snatched something away from his face and seemed to toss it over his shoulder.

"Forget it," Harry translated, glad to be back to sign language once again and cautiously slipping the notepad into his pocket and wondering what Hermione would make of this intense articulate Ron, "I know I have."

Ron was smiling a confused smile and leaned forward to take Jess' hand just as her fingers curled around his wrist and then it happened. Jess's screams were enough to shatter glass but Harry wasn't focused on her at all. He was on his knees supporting Ron who was curled up into the foetal position clutching his head as if in fear of it splitting open.

"Nurse Stour!" Harry roared, "Somebody, we need some help in here!"

Jess was still screaming, holding her own head and pulling on her hair with her face contorted in pain and distress.

"She's burning him! Please stop her, she's killing him!" Jess was sobbing now as the screams faded and she seemed to emerge from her vision.

Some of the staff from the clinic were hauling Jess over to a bed to attempt to calm her down and sedate her while nurse Stour crouched down beside Harry and Ron and tried to pry Ron's hands away from his head to see what the problem was.

"Did she strike him Harry? What on earth happened here?"

"She didn't hit him she..." Harry remembered the strange thing he thought he'd seen Ron mouthing earlier, "She touched him that's all. She just touched him gently on the arm and he seemed to get a really painful headache all of a sudden."

"At the same time Jess had her vision?" Stour frowned and Harry nodded, glad not to be the only one to make that connection and not like it one little bit, "Alright so let's just make sure he's okay shall we? Ron? Ron can you hear me?"

Ron was panting heavily and blinking his eyes back into focus as he nodded his head and then winced. That had obviously hurt a bit.

"Can you stand Ron?" Stour was saying as she and Harry tried to heave Ron to his feet and sit him back into his chair.

Ron was shaking quite violently now and just about managed to sign the letter J. Harry squeezed his friend's shoulders and whispered a reassurance that Jess was going to be fine and not to worry about her for the time being.

"This has never happened before," Stour was muttering to herself as a colleague presented her with a medical bag before moving on to assist with the calming of Jess on the other side of the room, "You don't have any seers in your family do you Ron?"

Ron shook his head and closed his eyes again. Harry made himself a rigid as he could so Ron had a strong support to lean on while nurse Stour thought a little more.

"I don't know, it's unprecedented, but if I didn't know any better I'd say you were acting like an antenna for her visions. It's almost as if you activated it but that's impossible, even with seer ancestry."

Ron swallowed and opened his eyes again. He looked to Harry and signed with twirling fingers and a lost look on his face.

"I don't know what's going on mate but we'll figure it out and you'll be fine alright?" Harry tried to smile reassuringly. Thankfully Ron nodded and supported his head in his hands.

"Does it still hurt?" Stour asked as she began to rifle through her medical bag.

Ron shook his head slowly before making a pulsing movement on either side of his head very slowly with both hands.

"It's throbbing," Harry told her and wished they were somewhere magical treatment could be administered.

"Listen Harry I think you should get him home and put him straight to bed. It seems to be a migraine and nothing more so let's treat it like that for now shall we?"

Harry nodded at the nurse and, when another member of staff came along to help remove Ron from the room and get him away from Jess in case they were the causes of each other's problems, nurse Stour pulled Harry to one side and began to talk in hushed tones.

"I'd recommend he stay at home tomorrow and rest up properly but in case he seems fine and insists coming to work I don't want him to work with Jess okay?"

"Right," Harry nodded.

"I'm not saying this is either of their fault but you've got to admit Harry, this definitely isn't altitude sickness he's been dealing with. That would have faded long ago and if anything it's just getting worse."

"I know," Harry sighed.

"If it is a reaction to Jess' visions then we can just assign somebody else to work with her one on one and Ron can continue to deal with all the others."

"What if it's not?" Harry said, not wanting to know the answer to this.

Nurse Stour smiled at the scruffy, bespectacled translator sadly.

"Why don't you just get him home for now eh?"

* * *

Hermione read and reread the notepad in silence before sitting back in the armchair and putting her hand to her face and frowning.

"Well?" Harry pressed.

"Well you're definitely right about this not being like Ron at all," she sighed before tossing the pad back down and sitting up again, "the language, the clinical, analytical tone, you said he was focused while writing and listening to this patient's responses?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded as he sat so far forward on the edge of the sofa that he was practically floating on the thin air just ahead of the seat rather than on it.

"And he's been getting more worn down every visit he makes to the clinic?" Harry nodded again, "The nurse doesn't think it's altitude sickness anymore either."

"She says the symptoms are all wrong," Harry said, eager to fill in every possible blank in this puzzle for Hermione, "it's supposed to fade as he gets used to the air up there but he's just been getting worse."

Hermione's head snapped up to stare at Harry and her eyes were wide. Harry wondered if she had worked it all out already, he hoped so.

"And you're just telling me all this now are you?" she hissed at him with barely concealed rage.

Harry had forgotten about this possibility. That Hermione might have, who was he kidding, _would_ have wanted to know about Ron's tiredness and headaches the moment Harry noticed them.

"Look I wasn't sure what was going on and the nurse kept telling us it was the altitude. I'm sorry Hermione I came to you as soon as I got him home today didn't I?"

Hermione jumped to her feet and began pacing up and down the living room.

"I haven't seen him in days, too busy with my own thing, this is my fault."

"Don't say that Hermione!" Harry demanded as he rose to his own feet and stood before her to stop the pacing, "Ron doesn't need another guilt complex on top of mine thank you very much."

Hermione's shoulders slumped and she crumpled into Harry's arms. They hugged while Hermione let some of her built up stress go for once.

"But I'm training to be a healer Harry. I'm all about helping people and making sick people feel better and all at the expense of my own boyfriend being a magical antenna or something!"

Harry rubbed small circles on Hermione back and shushed her soothingly.

"He's not an antenna, even Stour dismissed it as soon as she said it, it's not possible. She was just saying what it seemed like. The coincidence in the timing that just as Jess was struck down with a vision Ron gets a crippling migraine. They're being kept apart the next time we go there so we should find out once and for all if it was Jess who was making him feel woozy won't we?"

Hermione nodded and sniffed.

* * *

"How are we feeling today?" nurse Stour said when Ron and Harry stepped into the clinic from the frosty morning mist they both had to trudge through to get to the clinic.

Ron smiled and gave her a thumbs up while Harry nodded from behind his friend to ensure the nurse that Ron genuinely did seem okay that morning.

"Oh good, I was worried you know?" she beamed as she waved the two of them inside and closed the door behind them.

Ron had barely shuffled his coat off before he was signing to enquire how Jess was doing.

"Much better," Stour said as they followed her through to the day room, "she always recovers from visions remarkably quickly. I think she has developed quite a high tolerance for the discomfort now. She's been asking after you in fact Ron. I'll leave you both to get started while I go to her room and reassure her that you're right as rain."

Ron smiled and nodded before turning to Harry and sharing a questioning look before glancing around the group of patients scattered around the day room.

"I dunno," Harry shrugged, "do you want to get the difficult one over with first?"

Ron nodded and made his way over to the sapper who sat alone in the far corner of the room. Ron pulled up and empty chair and set it before the unshaven wizard. He waited until the man looked up at him to see what he was waiting for and then nodded down at the chair and raised his eyebrows.

"If you want," the sapper grunted with a shrug.

Ron shared a small smile with Harry as he sat down opposite the man and put his hand to his chin and moved it away before holding his hands in front of him and waggling his fingers in a 'come-on' motion. Harry chuckled at this and pulled up his own chair.

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Harry smirked while Ron pointed at his eye and then the sapper before shaking his head, rubbing his hands together and pointing at his eye and then at himself, "I've never seen you so happy to see me before."

Ron and Harry tried not to laugh as the sapper turned his face away from the two of them and Ron arched both his eyebrows in the hope that they'd maybe made this guy laugh at long last.

"What d'you want?" the sapper mumbled.

Ron pointed at himself before twirling his finger at the side of his head while pointing skyward and then tapping his forehead with two fingers and pointing them at the sapper.

"I was wondering what your name was," Harry translated.

The sapper huffed and folded his arms across his chest while maintaining his focus on the view outside the window. Ron leaned forward and followed his gaze. He made a pointing gesture from his eye out to the sky and splayed both hands and motioned downwards with them.

"It looks like rain," Harry said while nodding his agreement.

"Listen I told you to stay away from me. I told you I don't want to talk to you and I told _you_," the sapper turned and pointed directly into Ron's face while staring at him with fierce dark eyes.

The sapper's little protest never got to be completed however. Ron's whole body slumped and Harry barely had the reaction time to catch him as he fell from his chair.

"Ron?" Harry said as he tapped the side of Ron's face, "Ron!"

The sapper got up from his seat and stormed away while snarling to the approaching medical staff that were rushing to assist Harry with the unconscious Ron.

"He shouldn't be here."

* * *

He could hear his own name as if it were echoing around a deep dark cave and tried to look around to see where it was coming from. Then he realised that his eyes were closed so he opened them. That was when reality came hurtling back to him.

"Ron, oh thank Godric, you scared the hell out of me!" Harry was saying as he lifted him into the sitting position.

Ron tried to ask what had happened but all he could do was expel air from his lungs. Then he remembered. Ron always hated it when he woke up and forgot he couldn't talk. There was always a split second every morning when he would try to mumble something to himself or answer whoever had been rude enough to wake him when he would be normal. He would just be Ron, good old grumpy in the morning Ron, and not Ronald Weasley the mute.

Ron twirled his index fingers and tried to shrug, signing what he had just tried to say.

"You fainted," Harry said unsteadily.

_I what?_

Ron had never fainted in his entire life; he didn't think it was even possible. Sure he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. He could fall asleep at will within a second of deciding to do so but he'd never fainted before.

Ron pointed at himself with a disgusted look on his face and tapped the side of his cheek with his finger.

"You're not a total girl!" Harry laughed; the relief on his face at Ron's ability to make a joke was obvious.

Nurse Stour was leaning over him and looking into his eyes while shining a tiny white light into his face.

"Have you ever fainted before Ron?" she asked as she put the light away and held up a finger in front of his face and ordered him to follow it with his eyes.

Ron tried to shake his head but Stour held his chin in a vice like grip and he couldn't. She must've felt his attempt to answer in the negative though as she took 'no' to be his answer. Ron traced the letter 'J' on his palm from the tip of his middle finger and down before curling up towards his thumb and gesturing around the room.

"Jess wasn't anywhere near you when it happened Ron," Harry answered.

"Indeed not," nurse Stour nodded, "she was taking a stroll on the other side of the grounds, she wasn't in or anywhere near the building and she didn't have any visions either. The incident earlier in the week seems to have been a coincidence after all."

"But..." Harry began before stopping himself and shaking his head as if dismissing his own thought.

"But what Harry?" Stour said attentively.

"Well we were talking to that sapper guy and he pointed right at Ron and that was it," Harry clicked his fingers, "he was down like a sack of spuds!"

"Well it could be another coincidence," nurse Stour frowned before giving Ron a beam of reassurance, "If I find out you've got a flu bug or something and have infected all my staff and patients I'll give you something to swoon about young man!"

Ron gave a silent chuckle and his ears flushed scarlet. He was clearly embarrassed about having fainted in front of so many people. If the twins found out about this he'd never live it down.

"Harry," nurse Stour said as she took Harry's arm and headed out into the hallway with the young interpreter, "could I have a quick word before you take him home?"

Ron watched them go with a frown before another member of the nursing staff got his attention and handed him a glass of water.

"Don't feel so bad," she smiled down at him, "I reckon it takes a real man to faint."

* * *

"So what did the nurse at the clinic think?" Neville asked Hermione as they talked about this latest development over lunch in the cafeteria.

Hermione twirled a piece of lettuce around on the end of her fork before tossing the piece of cutlery down and shoving her plate away with her lunch barely touched.

"She asked him to check that Ron wasn't taking any potions or under any spells or enchantments for his throat or anything else," Hermione sighed as she slumped back in her chair, "Harry told her that Ron was clean as far as he knew and asked her why she'd asked."

Neville nodded his head and leaned across the table to make Hermione meet his eyes.

"She thought that if he was under some kind of magical treatment the sapper bloke was draining it from him and that was what's been causing his problems at work," he said.

"How did you know?" Hermione gasped.

"I'm studying head trauma remember?" Neville shrugged, "It's what I'd ask."

Hermione sighed again and nodded to herself in deep thought before continuing.

"Well Harry said he didn't think Ron was undergoing any treatment but said that if anybody knew something about Ron that he didn't it would be me. He told me all about Ron's episode yesterday when I came by the flat to see him and he asked me."

Neville stared at Hermione's sad face and took her hand where it rested on top of the table.

"And Ron's not taking any potions or sleeping draught or...anything?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I asked him and then asked him if he would ever keep anything from me to save me the worry and we ended up having a big fight. I was going to spend the night but I thought he needed the rest and he can't rest knowing I'm fretting about something so..."

Hermione shook her head as if trying to clear all the clutter away and see exactly what she was looking for. She needed to see the solution to Ron's problems.

"You want him to stop going don't you?" Neville asked her in a low voice, "You want him to give up the job."

She wiped her eyes and nodded.

"I feel so awful about it Neville," she sniffed, "he's waited so long for an opportunity to work, to be of any use other than teaching trainee Aurors how to perform non verbal magic as well as a mute can, and I can't ask him to give all that up now he has it."

"Shhh, don't do this to yourself Hermione, you're not a bad person for wanting to protect him y'know?" Neville forced a reassuring smile onto his face.

"I know but I can't stand seeing him so...weary," Hermione wiped her welling eyes with the heel of her palm again, "and that stuff he wrote on his pad, it was like my medical notes not Ron talking to a frightened girl about her awful nightmare visions. I'm scared for him Neville."

"Listen, I think I know Ron pretty well after living in each other's pockets for all those years as dorm mates and I think I have a pretty good idea of how to handle him when he's being moody and defensive."

"I thought _I _did too," Hermione said sulkily.

"Yeah well, as much as I like Ron, I never did _that_ with him to cheer him up!"

Hermione's eyes flashed with the old sparkle that had been missing for the past week and she let out a genuine burst of laughter while playfully slapping Neville on the arm.

"Neville, you're as bad as Harry!" she giggled as she calmed down from her mini tension release.

"What I was going to say was let him binge on chocolate. It's got that ingredient that makes you happier and calms you down doesn't it? That's why you're supposed to eat it after being around Dementors after all. If chocolate makes you relax and a little happier then it's got to be ten times more powerful in Ron's case 'cause that guy's got an addiction to the stuff."

Hermione blinked and nodded, this wasn't a bad idea at all really.

"Just sit up all night with enough chocolate to kill most other normal human beings and talk about everything but what's going on. I think that's what Ron needs more than worry and accusations of keeping things from you right now."

Hermione couldn't remember the last time she and Ron had sat in front of the fire feeding each other chocolate until they both fell asleep. The next morning she felt sick, fat and spotty while Ron was practically dancing. She always did marvel at how his skin was so clear and his build was so slim while he ate the way he did. Damn him and his metabolism.

"Well I suppose I'd better go shopping then eh?" she smiled.

* * *

Harry was relieved that the day had gone so well. Ron had managed to get through a whole hour with Jess and she hadn't had any visions and Ron hadn't gone all McGonagall on him, although neither of them dared to make physical contact after the last time. The only thing Harry did notice was Ron rubbing his head as they left Jess' room. When he asked if everything was okay Ron smiled and adopted a playful scowl while moving his hand on either side of his head.

"I'm _not_ worrying, I'm just asking!" Harry had laughed.

They had avoided another session with the sapper, nurse Stour advised it and the sapper had no desire to talk to them anyway, and Harry couldn't help himself as he glared at the moody wizard as they passed the day room on their way from one patients room to another. He could've sworn he heard the man growling to a nearby member of staff that _'that kid shouldn't bloody be here'_.

The day was over. Ron's mini headache never returned and everybody was happy. That was until Ron pulled on his coat and walked back over to Stour's office, which was opposite the entrance to the day room, to say goodbye.

"I'll get you to talk to Swanwick tomorrow, I've been keeping him to one side until you found your feet here, he can be very shy around new people and with you and Harry there'll be two for him to deal with so..." she waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

Ron laughed at this and pointed at her before waving his hands in front of him, pointing his fingers while keeping his fists together and then pulling them apart horizontally.

"He said he's got you using sign language now," Harry called down from the front door where he was wrestling his own coat on.

"What can I say?" nurse Stour shrugged, "You've grown on me."

Ron pretended to be embarrassed and gave her a wave before turning back to rejoin Harry when his face fell and his body with it. Neither Stour nor Harry was close enough to catch him and he hit the floor with a thud.

"Ron!" Harry yelled as he skidded across the floor on his knees to roll his best friend over and see that he was already coming round, "Merlin Ron, where did that one come from?"

Stour instinctively looked into the day room and saw the sapper snoozing at his window on the far side of the room and back down the corridor where she knew Jess was in her room a safe distance away.

"Harry seriously, is he taking something? That's the only reason I can come up with for him to be struggling here. There's nothing around that could possibly be triggering him."

Ron sat up and rubbed his face where he had hit the floor while glaring at the nurse. He pointed at himself and then gestured around at his surroundings.

"I am here y'know?" Harry translated half heartedly while helping Ron back up to his feet and making sure that he was steady enough to let go of.

"I'm sorry Ron but I really need you to see somebody in St Mungo's before you come back to work tomorrow. The last thing I want is for you to be damaging yourself just to prove a point."

Ron huffed and looked with great annoyance from Stour to Harry and back again. He shrugged his shoulders with resignation and pointed at his eye and then away from himself to rub his fist down the side of his upper arm.

"I'll go and see a healer," Harry said with relief and he looked at Ron with a grateful smile, "we'll go to St Mungo's with Hermione in the morning and see somebody before we come here okay. You won't even be late for your first patient."

Ron nodded and headed for the door.

"Tell the healer to trace any residual magic in him that even he might not know about," Stour said quietly to Harry, "I'm sure that's what's causing this."

Harry nodded and followed Ron out the door.


	5. Someone to Watch Over Me

**Someone To Watch Over Me**

Ron stepped out of the shower just as Hermione had shoved Harry out the front door by part force and part persuasion. He rubbed his damp hair with a towel and frowned at her suspiciously.

"Harry's just gone to visit Ginny at the Burrow," Hermione smiled.

Ron still displayed an expression that made it absolutely clear that he didn't believe Hermione's carefree attitude one little bit. She swallowed and almost skipped across the room to curl her arms around Ron's wait and rest her chin upon his chest. She stared up at him and smiled sweetly, blinking her huge brown eyes innocently. Ron almost laughed as he pulled away from her.

"What?" she said, a little hurt that the idea of her being sweet and passive was so ridiculously out of character for her.

Ron tapped the side of his head with his thumb and wiped his hand over his upturned palm before making a movement from his mouth towards Hermione. Hermione dropped the act immediately and her shoulder slumped.

"Yes Harry did tell me what happened today. He told me and I'm glad because you wouldn't have would you?" she snapped at the redhead who was now a little more relaxed with this 'recognisable' Hermione he was now sharing a room with.

Ron rubbed his knuckles against his chest and then tapped his head before making a gripping motion towards his chest with both hands.

"It isn't your problem Ron, it's our problem, do you really think I like hearing that you're just dropping like a stone randomly for no reason whatsoever?"

Hermione tried to stop herself. This wasn't supposed to be what this evening was all about. Neville told her to just put all that aside, all her worry and anger at being protected from it, and let Ron relax for a few hours.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you about this," she said as she moved towards him again and snaked her arms around him, "I didn't get rid of Harry for the night just so we could argue with each other in peace. I understand you're coming to St Mungo's with me tomorrow morning," Ron nodded and shrugged half heartedly, "well I'll fuss and worry and drive you crazy then okay?"

Ron laughed and curled his own arms around his girlfriend to hug her back. He kissed the top of her head before releasing Hermione to sign something. He pointed to himself and then flicked the tip of his nose with his thumb before shading both his eyes with his hands.

"It could very well be your lucky night," Hermione answered wickedly, "but the night is young so come and sit down on the sofa with me."

Hermione took Ron's hand and led him over to the comfortable but ugly as hell sofa and dropped herself down upon it, pulling him with her. They kissed for a minute or two before she withdrew her wand and flicked it at the fireplace, igniting a roaring orange fire and swishing her wand towards the kitchen to summon a large brown paper bag into her waiting arms.

Ron twirled his index fingers and pointed to the bag with a shrug.

"A treat for us," Hermione smiled as she plunged her hand inside the bag and felt around for something.

Ron banged the sides of his fists together while extending his index fingers and then gesturing between the two of them before waving his hand from left to right over his open palm.

"I always share Ronald Weasley!" Hermione pretended to be offended as she withdrew a large bag of thumbnail sized chocolate spheres and poured some of them into her cupped hand.

Ron's eyes darted from Hermione's wickedly twinkling eyes, to the raging fire and then back down to the chocolate marbles that were rolling around in her hand. He arched an eyebrow. He held up a closed fist and opened it before tapping his chin with the tips of his fingers, and then he pointed his finger into his cheek and twisted it before tapping the side of his cheek with it and grinned.

"Free food _and_ a pretty girl," Hermione nodded as she picked up one of the chocolate marbles and tossed it up into the air and tried to catch it in her open mouth.

The chocolate bounced off her nose and fell into her lap, which Ron found greatly amusing. He took one and demonstrated how it should be done. He was being very cocky Hermione thought, and she was glad to see it. She'd rather spend the evening with a cocky teasing Ron then a moody stressed-out one that was for sure.

Ron tried to teach Hermione to juggle the tiny spheres before giving up and throwing several of them down the font of her blouse with an aim that suggested keeper wasn't his natural quiddich position. Hermione fumbled down her top in an attempt to fish them out but Ron decided that he put them there so it was his duty to retrieve them. He looked very serious and pointed at himself before bringing his fingers together and pointing them down Hermione's top.

"What do you mean you're going in?" Hermione said as she clutched her blouse closed around her neck with a fearful giggle.

Ron pointed at Hermione's top and made a gripping motion towards his chest with both hands to inform her that 'they belong to me'.

"You threw them down there!" Hermione squealed as Ron began to play fight with her to retrieve his missing chocolate, "It's your hard luck if they're lost forever isn't it?"

* * *

"Harry," Percy said stiffly while giving him nothing more than a nod as he passed.

"Percy," Harry said in a similar manner.

"Boys," Mrs Weasley warned them, "I don't want any of that grudge holding in my house thank you very much. Now Percy has said sorry for his misguided loyalties during the war and Harry has nothing to apologise for Percival Weasley. He saved your brother's life plenty of times when you weren't around to see it..."

"It's hard to see anything with your head up Cornelius Fudge's arse," Fred muttered and Harry and Ginny smirked.

"So there will be no more guilt laden on this poor boy for something that was never his fault to begin with!" Mrs Weasley finished.

"Whatever you say mother," Percy said darkly as he cast a sideways glance at Harry and Ginny pulled her boyfriend into the living room and away from any more unpleasantness.

"Really Harry, you've got to learn to just shrug him off like the rest of us do," Ginny said as they settled down in front of the dying embers that smouldered in the fireplace.

"So how d'you think it's going back at your place then Harry?" George said from the doorway where he was leaning casually.

"What?" Harry feigned innocence.

"Oh come on!" Fred scoffed as he jumped into the empty armchair and put his feet up on the coffee table, "the only people who aren't here are Charlie..."

"Budapest," George said, explaining his brother's absence from supper that evening.

"...Bill and Fleur..." Fred added.

"Married and therefore having their own _family night_," George said with a waggle of the eyebrows.

"...and ickle Ronniekins and his girlfriend," Fred said as he folded his arms smugly.

"Now I can't imagine what they're doing while you're stuck here with bossy boots over there," George sighed before ruffling Ginny's hair into a messy haystack on top of her head.

"Oi! I'll show you bossy if you don't knock it off, both of you," Ginny snapped and waggled a warning finger wildly while straightening her hair again.

Fred lowered his legs from the coffee table and sat forward in his chair while George sat down on the armrest beside him.

"Seriously Harry, what's going on with Ron these days?" Fred said with a frown.

"Remembering that we know a lot more than you'd have us know that is," George said with a glance toward his little sister.

Harry spun on his girlfriend with annoyance.

"You told them?"

"I needed to tell somebody and Percy really doesn't need another reason to persecute you does he?"

"And mum would implode," Fred shrugged, "so come on, spill, how was he today?"

Harry flicked his wand and closed the living room door. George cursed under his breath and leaned in as close as he could without touching his siblings or Harry's foreheads.

"Shit this must be serious."

"Well he was fine all day. No problems other than a very mild headache while talking to the seer girl, he didn't go anywhere near that sapper guy and he was right as rain right up until we were about to leave."

"Then what?" Fred said.

"Then he was just walking towards me at the front door and slammed face down on the floor like that," Harry clicked his fingers, "out cold."

Ginny took Harry's hand and gave it a tight squeeze while Fred and George thought for a moment and then looked back at Harry.

"The seer wasn't around?" Fred clarified.

"In her room at the other end of the corridor," Harry said with a shake of the head.

"And the sapper arsehole wasn't pointing at him again?" George said.

"He was in the room Ron was passing the doorway of but he was all the way over by the window and he was fast asleep guys," Harry said with a new worry line forming on his forehead, "the nurse thinks Ron could have some magical treatment that was left behind after…well from when he was in hospital."

Harry's head dropped. He hated to remind himself of that time. He wasn't there for Ron during his recovery. He was in a secluded ward feeling sorry for himself and refusing to see visitors or speak to anyone. He looked up when he felt Fred patting his arm firmly.

"Don't beat yourself up about that again mate," Fred smiled.

"Fred, George," Harry said as he sat up straight in his seat, "Ginny, did the healers do anything to Ron that you think might still be with him. Something that even Ron doesn't know about because I really don't think he's lying to us about taking potions or being under enchantments or anything."

Fred exhaled air and blew his fringe up in the process while thinking back. George was shaking his head with a furrowed brow similar to the one Harry was currently cultivating on his own head.

"It's been so long now Harry," Ginny said eventually, "if there was a slow acting spell of a time release potion surely it would have run its course by now. He doesn't even go in for check ups on his throat anymore does he?"

"The healers told him he was all clear and needed no extra treatment six months ago," Fred said while shaking his head.

Harry sighed and sat back in his seat, Ginny fell back with him and settled her head upon his chest. Fred and George smiled at the two of them but seemed to silently decide not to start teasing them right now.

"So Ron and Hermione are going at it are they?" Fred said with a fearful look in his eyes, "I've been on the wrong side of that woman myself and she is terrifying!"

"Poor Ronnie eh?" George said with a shake of the head, "come home from a hard day at work to an all night long bollocking from your girlfriend."

Harry turned his head and saw that Ginny was struggling not to laugh.

"Oh yeah," Harry agreed with the twins, "I bet he's really suffering."

* * *

For the past fifteen minutes Ron and Hermione had been playing hangman and Ron was losing by eight games to three. He didn't seem to mind though.

"I win again! Time to clear the board," Hermione said with delight.

Ron put his little finger to his chin and pulled it away sharply with a smirk.

"You're right to swear," Hermione laughed as she leaned over and began to lick the chocolate off Ron's bare back, "you suck at this game!"

Ron tapped the side of his head with his thumb before shrugging, shaking his head and pointing at himself between the eyes. Hermione leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"You don't mind losing? Since when may I ask?"

Ron rolled over and pulled Hermione down on top of him.

"Wait, you're smearing our game all over the carpet!" Hermione giggled.

She wasn't really sure how she had come up with the idea of drawing on Ron's back with her sticky chocolaty fingers but she had thoroughly enjoyed both noughts and crosses and then hangman, she thought the cleaning of her canvas was her favourite part of all. Ron kept grumbling about having only just got out of the shower and now needing another one again so soon afterwards but she kept protesting that she wanted one more game and he didn't put up much of a fight before giving in.

"No more games?" Hermione pouted, mocking a certain ex girlfriend of Ron's in a way that used to make him shudder.

Ron pointed at himself and then stroked the underside of his chin with the back of his hand. He'd had enough. The two of them snuggled into each other on the floor in front of the fire and absentmindedly played with each other's hair while staring off into space. Ron was the first of them to shake it off.

He tapped Hermione on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly, and he put his thumb and forefinger to his eye and moved them apart before pointing at Hermione and giving her the thumbs up.

"I'm fine Ron," she murmured as she shifted around and slid her arms around him to hold him tightly to her, "I'm just wondering how fat I'll be after tonight that's all."

Ron laughed and kissed the top of her head. She knew he didn't buy it for a second, he knew that she was worrying about him going back to the clinic. She was fretting about what the tests would find and tying herself in even bigger knots at the thought that they'd discover nothing and have no reason for Ron's dizzy spells and painful migraines.

She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closing. He seemed to feel her staring at him and opened them again and smiled.

"How are _you_?" she said, rebounding his question on him.

Ron lifted his arm away from Hermione to make a downward motion with his hand like he was pressing something heavy away from him.

"Tired?" Hermione asked and he nodded.

Ron sat up and pointed at Hermione with a frown as he made a triangular shape with both hands.

"I'll go home if you want me to," she said as she too sat up and took Ron's hand in hers.

Ron leaned forward and kissed her briefly, he tasted of chocolate and she chuckled into his mouth which caused him to silently laugh as well, before pointing at her and bringing his fingers together and nodding towards his bedroom door.

"That sounds like a better idea," Hermione nodded and they untangled their limbs from each other and got to their feet.

Ron took her hand and led the way to his room. She pulled back momentarily to lean over and pull a chocolate frog from the large bag and grinned wickedly at Ron.

"One for the road."

* * *

Harry waited outside the room of Hermione's boss Healer Kalra as he gave Ron a full examination and tried to find any kind of lingering magic dwelling in him that the sapper could have been subconsciously manipulating. He jumped as the door creaked open and Ron and Hermione stepped out, listening to the healer as he explained his findings to them.

"...a single thing wrong, don't look so disappointed about that Miss Granger, that's a good thing y'know?" he smiled and gave her a small hug of reassurance.

"Oh I know it's just," she didn't really have anything more to say and just petered off into a shrug.

"You wanted a reason for what's been going on so you can work on fixing it. I know."

Ron glanced across at Harry and smiled at him before pointing at himself and giving the thumbs up.

"That's great Ron," Harry said hoarsely, he too wanted some form of explanation for his best friends sudden collapses lately.

"There is definitely no foreign potions or toxins in your blood, there are no charms, spells or even shadows of spells performed long ago anywhere in you Mr Weasley. Priori Incant-" the healer was interrupted by Hermione.

"No shadows of spells, no traces of past healing magic used over the years, but there could be something we've missed couldn't there?" she said frantically.

Ron heaved a deep sigh and pulled Hermione to one side and began to sign his reassurances that this was all good news and there was no need for her to tie herself in knots with worry over him anymore but she was still biting her lip anxiously and frowning up at him as if expecting him to faint any moment now.

Ron hugged her and she hugged him back, a little reluctant to let go of him as he pulled back to say something more to her. He put his hand on his chest, fingers splayed and a pained look on his face as he moved his palm away from his chest and pointed from his own eye to Hermione.

"I know you do Ron I'm sorry," she said as she tried to force herself to smile at him.

Ron shook his head and held both hands on either side of his face before pointing from Hermione towards himself and brought the tips of his fingers together on both hands and twisting them slightly with a mischievous smile on his lips.

"What's he saying?" Healer Kalra whispered into Harry's ear while Hermione laughed and threw her arms around Ron's neck.

"He just told her he hates seeing her like this and to stop worrying and kiss him," Harry grinned.

* * *

Jess was frustrating the hell out of Ron that afternoon. Every time he tried to get her to talk about her fear of magic and her own power Jess turned the subject around to Ron's welfare and speculation on what was causing his fainting fits as she called them.

"They're not fits," Harry translated while chuckling at Ron's annoyance and attempting to avoid the prods to his side that Ron kept administering for finding his frustration so amusing.

Ron huffed and raised both his hands to get their attention before gesturing to the two of them and holding up his palm firmly, hovering his hands on either side of his head and then stabbing his index finger into his own chest.

"Can you both stop worrying about me?" Harry said as he struggled not to smile.

"No of course we can't!" Jess said matter-of-factly, "Now what else did the healer say?"

Ron threw his arms up into the air and stomped out of the room. Harry laughed and Jess giggled.

"It's fun to annoy him isn't it?" Harry said and she chuckled and nodded her head, "So you had another vision last night then?"

"Yeah," Jess said, her mirth disappearing rapidly, "I'm beginning to wonder why I'm having reoccurring visions, it's never happened before."

"Maybe it means it's not something that's pre-destined but something that somebody wants to happen?" Harry speculated.

"No," Jess sighed and shook her head sadly, "everything I see happens eventually in one way or the other."

"You could be seeing something that you stop from happening, that might be why you're seeing it so often, if you warn us enough then the person you see burning can be saved."

"Maybe," Jess said doubtfully.

"Come on, I like this idea, tell me more about the details. How old is this guy?"

"Well he's about nineteen or twenty I think, he's got red hair and..."

"What?" Harry interrupted as his face drained of all colour.

"He's young and he has red hair and there's this bright white light that turns into a fire that's burning him. There's a woman who appears behind him, like she's coming out of the flames and she's the one who's burning him."

Harry silently prayed that this was simply a coincidence. There were lots of red haired people in the world, why did it have to be Ron? It was stupid of him to jump to that conclusion right away. He only thought that because he was worried about his best friend. Jess' vision had nothing to do with Ron, nothing at all. Despite the fact that touching Ron triggered them and hurt him and he kept collapsing while visiting the very place Jess lived.

"It can't be," Harry whispered to himself.

"What?" Jess said as she stared into the space just slightly to the left of Harry's actual face.

"Nothing, it's just...no nothing. Go on, what was the woman like?"

"She's a witch, I don't know how I know but I do, and she's very powerful. She's strong and clever and she keeps trying to perform magic but she can't, she burns the young man and she sends yellow lightning through him and right at me and...she doesn't look old but I know she is. She's really old. She has black hair and a few lines on her face but she's still quite pretty. Scary but pretty and she's wearing robes and a bodice of what looks like armour. It's like a ghost from the past come to life again."

Harry nodded before realising that this was of no use to Jess whatsoever and cleared his constricted throat.

"That's okay Jess, you've done really well for today, I'll leave you alone now and go and find Ron."

Harry got up from his chair and turned towards the door.

"Harry?" Jess called after him.

"Yes?"

"Look after him won't you? I've heard people talking and I think it's that awful sapper man who's hurting him. Keep him away from him won't you?"

Harry swallowed and leaned over to pat Jess on the shoulder.

"I've made it my life's work to look out for Ron, don't you worry about that."

* * *

"So Verity is carrying this stack of boxes that's towering about three feet above her head," George was chuckling as he retold the story of Verity, Fred and the three broken legs to Bill who was sitting at the dinner table chewing a mouthful of food that seemed to be too much for one mouth, "and Fred's running down the stairs declaring that he's cracked the formula for the temporary x-ray vision charm..."

"What's x-ray vision?" Mrs Weasley frowned as she dished up the dinner onto everybody's plates.

"It's a muggle thing Molly," Mr Weasley said eagerly, "they take photographs of bones through the skin, it's quite wonderful!"

"Why on earth would anybody want to take a photograph of a bone in the first place?" Charlie snorted, he had just returned from Budapest that afternoon.

"Can you let me finish the bleedin story?" George snapped as he waved his fork in the air and Fred leaned over and stole the roast potato that was speared on the end of it.

"It isn't like taking a family photograph Charlie," Percy said haughtily, "muggles do it when they think a bone might be broken. They x-ray it to see."

"Who asked you?" Fred said with a mouthful of roast potato and a scowl.

"Zey take a picture of eet razzer zen 'ealing za bone?" Fleur said with a shake of the head, "Zeeze muggles, zey are crazee!"

Bill smiled at his wife and fed her a bite of his roast beef while Ginny rolled her eyes at their never ending romantic displays.

"You'd think they'd get sick of each other once they were married just like mum and dad are but if anything they're worse!" the youngest Weasley grumbled.

"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley said as she dropped into her seat and looked quite offended, "Your father and I are not sick of each other."

"Oh you know what I mean," Ginny tutted and took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Is anybody listening to my bloody story?" George bellowed indignantly.

"Fred language!" Mrs Weasley snapped.

"What? It wasn't me!" Fred protested with a hurt expression.

George was chuckling now and waving his empty fork at his twin brother.

"Ha ha! I love it when she does that. Hold on, where's my bloody potato?"

"Fred I've told you once I won't tell you again," Mrs Weasley threatened.

"It's still not me mother!" Fred huffed.

"Who was ganging up on you Ron?" Percy said all of a sudden out of absolutely nowhere.

The kitchen at the Burrow fell silent and all eyes turned to Ron who had been having a conversation with Hermione. Ron blinked and looked at Percy before holding both hands in front of his stomach with his fingers pointing upwards and then pointing at Percy, tapping the side of his head with his thumb and waving his fingers back and forth between himself and Hermione.

Harry instinctively began to translate Ron's query on how Percy knew what he and Hermione had been talking about when Percy sat up straight in his chair and put down his knife and fork on either side of his plate.

"I've been learning," he said nonchalantly.

Everybody around the table was silent for a second or two before Mrs Weasley exclaimed so loudly that Fleur and Ginny almost jumped out of their skins.

"Oh Percy dear that's wonderful!"

"Too little too late," Fred muttered under his breath and George nodded and scowled in Percy's direction.

"So anyway Ronald, pardon me for eavesdropping, but whom exactly ganged up on you at work today?" Percy said as he ignored the twin's glares.

Charlie turned in his seat and frowned at Ron, he and Bill were very protective of Ron when it came to people bullying him or patronising him ever since the 'incident' and Charlie wanted to know exactly what was going on too.

Ron was still staring at Percy with some suspicion but he answered all the same. He slid his palm over the other and pointed to his thumb, hit his curled index finger twice on his palm before making a 'y' shape with his thumb, forefinger and the index finger of his other hand.

"Harry?" Percy raised his eyebrows and seemed to be fighting not to glare at the person he took to be the bane of his baby brother's life.

Ron went on signing despite seeing this rising hostility. He drew a 'J' from his middle finger down his palm and hooked it up towards his thumb, pointed at his index finger, and then linked his little fingers twice in succession.

"Who's Jess?" Percy frowned.

"Jess is the patient we're working with," Harry said, readying himself for a confrontation with the bespectacled Weasley, "She was bossing him around and telling him to take better care of himself. We both were, we were 'ganging up on him' so to speak."

Ron smiled at Harry and Harry grinned back. Percy swallowed and looked back to Ron and rubbed his knuckles against his chest.

Ron smiled smugly and pointed at his head before pointing at Percy and rubbing his knuckles upon his own chest and gesturing to Harry.

"Yeah," Fred agreed, "I think you owe an apology to Harry too."

"Sorry," Percy said snippily, "I wasn't aware of the context of Ron's conversation."

"Well you shouldn't have been ear-wigging then should you?" George snapped.

"Fred will you stop antagonising your brother?" Mrs Weasley said with great annoyance.

"Oh that's it," Fred said with a huff as he got up from his seat, "I've had enough, I'm going for a walk! This is your son _Fred_ storming out."

Fred thumped across the kitchen floor and out through the back door. George chuckled to himself and Charlie smacked him around the back of the head.

When dinner was over Mrs Weasley had the brilliant, or rather uncomfortable, idea to set Harry and Percy the task of washing up together while everybody else slouched about in the living room and tried to digest the heavy meal they had just eaten. It wasn't long before most of them were snoozing quietly.

Harry was washing while Percy dried and neither of them had spoken in ten minutes, and that was only to decide who did what job.

"So you've been learning sign language for Ron then have you?" Harry said eventually, the silence making him want to scream.

"Of course," Percy said, "did you really think I enjoyed not being able to communicate with my own brother?"

Harry huffed and shook his head as he shoved a plate into Percy's waiting hands.

"It's not like you to take on anything that wouldn't get you a promotion at the ministry that's all."

Percy gritted his teeth before responding.

"I am actually working as a translator in the ministry but that wasn't why I did it and you know it."

Harry snorted and wiped a teacup clean with his dishcloth and wondered why Mrs Weasley still insisted on this being done manually when it could all be over with in the flick of a wand and he could escape Percy's persecution.

"So you think that learning sign language makes up for it do you?" Harry said as he dropped the teacup into Percy's waiting hands.

"Listen Potter," Percy said as he lowered his voice and turned on Harry, who was delighted to have finally got into a position where they could argue in a straightforward manner, "I may have made a lot of mistakes and burnt a lot of bridges in this family but at least I never did anything to hurt them."

"I saw your mother's face when you returned your Christmas jumper Percy," Harry snarled, "Do you want to try saying that again?"

"I never did anything that almost _killed_ them!" Percy spat viciously.

Harry wanted to punch him more than he had ever wanted to punch Malfoy in his entire life.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me Potter," Percy slammed the tea towel down so hard it cracked like a whip and he faced off to the younger boy with his hands on his hips and a scowl fixed upon his face that it would have taken a chisel to remove, "For all the loyalty this family showed you, loyalty to _you _over _me_ even, and what do they have to show for it? Ron and Ginny cornered by Death Eaters while _you_ and _your_ ego insist that your dream was real and Sirius Black is in the Department of Mysteries. Ron drinking lethal poison as a result of you haphazardly leaving drugged chocolate lying around, but never mind that eh? No because Harry saved the day with the bezoar! It was your bloody fault he needed saving in the first place!"

Harry blinked; he had never heard Percy swear in his life.

"And where were you ya great pompous prick?" Harry growled, "Where were you when Ron was stuck in the hospital wing with his arms covered in bandages? Where were you when he was recovering from nearly dying slowly and painfully on his bloody birthday? You didn't even send him a card!"

"I knew you were poisoning him against me, the whole family apart from mother, you were the golden boy and I was the outcast. They were _my_ family first!" Percy said before looking away and shaking.

Harry refused to feel sorry for Percy. He tried to remember the empty space at the table every Sunday lunchtime. He tried to remember the look of Ron's face as he read that letter in the fifth year. He tried to remember Percy's smug face when Fudge thought he'd finally got Dumbledore out of Hogwarts once and for all. Percy was a prat, a hateful prat, and he didn't deserve sympathy any more than Harry did.

"You should've remembered that when Fudge asked you to sell them out for a promotion."

Percy turned back to stare at Harry with bloodshot eyes.

"You know what really takes the biscuit Harry?" Percy was speaking in a low tone of voice that sounded so raw a foreign coming from him that it rendered Harry temporarily speechless and he could only shake his head, "You made my entire family a target for You-Know-Who and they love you for it. All I ever tried to do was keep them safe and none of them can even look me in the eye unless they're telling me how much they hate me. I came to that hospital when I heard what you'd done to him...to Ron...and what did I find? I find my baby brother with a deep gash across his throat, unable to speak again for the rest of his life, and his family..._my_ family, worrying about poor Harry and his guilt. You deserve to feel guilty."

Harry felt his throat closing up; he had no comeback for this. Percy was right about something for once.

"You butchered my little brother, during a battle you dragged him into, and then you left him alone to deal with the consequences all by himself while you curled up in a tight little ball of self pity and they all forgave you for it. Well I don't Potter, I never will."

"Neither will I," Harry finally said, a cross between a whisper and a choke escaping his lips as he spoke.

The rest of the washing up was done in complete silence.

* * *

Ron stood in the doorway of Jess' room with his arms folded. Harry tried not to laugh.

"What's going on?" Jess frowned as she reached out for Ron's vacant chair and felt that it was empty, "Where's Ron?"

"Ron's throwing a tantrum over last time and won't come in until you apologise to him," Harry chuckled.

"Aw really?" Jess grinned, "So he's outside waiting is he?"

"Yep," Harry said.

"And he won't come in until I say sorry for mothering him the other day?"

"Nope."

"Well close the door then Harry, I'm feeling a draft," Jess shrugged.

Harry shoved the door closed in Ron's face with his foot and shook with laughter. The door swung open again and Ron came in and sat down with a huff. Harry and Jess were in fits of giggles now and Ron rolled his eyes and jiggled his thumb and forefinger beneath his chin.

"He says we're very funny," Harry said as he clutched his sides.

"Oh I'm sorry Ron but you make it so easy to tease you sometimes," Jess explained.

Ron gave a tut and pointed from his ear away from himself.

"So I've heard," Harry grinned as he calmed himself down.

Ron got right to business and grazed his knuckles down his upper arm followed by linking his two little fingers and then stroking his cheek and then pointing to his wrist.

"So nurse Stour tells me you had a black time of it last night," Harry began while watching Ron continuing, "nightmares in between visions. Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really," Jess shook her head.

"Um," Harry sat forward in his seat while Ron stared at him with curiosity, "was it the same guy you told me about before?"

Jess nodded. Ron frowned at her and pointed in her direction before tapping the side of his head with his thumb and stroking his chin with his hand.

"Do you know this man?" Harry didn't even want to speculate about the real answer to that question, he still hadn't confided in Hermione about his fears.

"Nope," Jess shook her head, "I don't know anybody with red hair."

Ron smiled and pointed at Jess, then tapped the side of his head with his thumb again and pointed at himself.

"You know me," Harry said, wondering if Jess or Ron were making any leaps inside their own head now.

"You're a redhead Ron, or is that Harry speaking for himself?"

"No that was Ron, I've got black hair Jess."

"Ooh, I'm building mental pictures of both of you now, Ron's coming off as the better looking one I have to say!"

Ron raised both his hands in mock celebration and Harry groaned before protesting this verdict.

"You're only saying that to suck up to him after yesterday!"

Ron grinned smugly and tapped his thumb to his head and pointed at Jess before rubbing his hands together. Then he gestured to himself, gave two thumbs up that rotated around each other before pointing at Jess.

"Shall I leave you two alone?" Harry scoffed before turning to Jess and translating, "Ron says he thinks you are wonderful and that you're his favourite patient here."

"See we both have great taste," Jess beamed.

Ron nodded before shoving Harry in the arm and pointing over his shoulder.

"He's throwing me out now," Harry pretended to sulk, "I guess that means it's my turn for the two against one treatment is it?"

"'Fraid so," Jess shrugged.

Ron was still chuckling at Harry when he winced suddenly, only for a brief second but Harry didn't miss it.

"Ron? Mate do you want to step outside for a minute or two?" Harry said as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Ron shook Harry's hand off and pointed at himself before giving a halfhearted thumbs up.

"Harry what's going on?" Jess said nervously.

"He's fine," Harry said while still examining Ron's face closely, "just a little..."

Ron yanked his note pad from his back pocket and slammed it down onto his lap so fast that Harry actually jumped with shock.

"Ron don't do this again, sign to me please," Harry said nervously.

"Is he...away again?" Jess asked fearfully.

"He's...he's writing something down. Let me just..." Harry craned his neck to read over Ron's shoulder.

"Should I press the panic button?" Jess said as she shuffled in her chair.

_She has seen it but she doesn't know what she has seen. There are two links already. They will find out soon if they don't already know._

"Ron stop, put the pen down and look at me," Harry said firmly, "Ron talk to me, sign something to me. Who's in there with you?"

"I'm calling for nurse Stour," Jess said fretfully.

"Do it," Harry said as he looked up at Jess with fearful eyes and saw her feel along the wall to find the raised red button and press it.

Harry looked back down at the pad and saw something that made his stomach turn.

"Oh Godric Ron what's happening to you?"

_Eu tenho que ser liberado._

_Split entre duas prisões. Um eternal, o outro que enfraquece-se e que morre._

"What language is that?" Harry breathed as he held onto Ron who was shaking so violently now that it rattled Harry's bones.

Jess found her way back to her chair and reached out for Ron, feeling the air between them nervously.

"Ron you're frightening us. Please stop it," she said.

_Livre a embarcação. Libere o refém. Deixe os captores queimam os prisions. Deixe a garra do Raven ir. Dê-lhe a paz._

_Os filhos de Slytherin procuram os olhos, as orelhas e a boca trazer para trás os mortos. O filho de Gryffindor não pode sobreviver seu resurection. O fogo terminá-lo-á todo._

Just as nurse Stour and two of her staff ran into the room a drop of blood fell from Ron's nose and hit the pad as Jess' hand found Ron's forearm and she screamed a bloodcurdling scream while the pad slipped from Ron's fingers and he slumped in Harry's arms.

"Oh Godric no, please no," Harry pleaded to nothing and nobody in particular as he patted Ron on the side of the face to try and wake him up while the two nurses who had entered Jess' room with Stour ran to restrain her through her vision.

"Harry help me get him out of here," he heard Stour saying but all he could do was cradle Ron's limp body and shake him with panic.

"Ron wake up mate, please!" he begged as he wiped the blood from his best friend's freckled cheek.

"Harry we need to get him out of here and get him to St Mungo's _now!_" Stour barked with authority, "Pull yourself together and help me lift him."

Harry came back to himself a little and nodded. He pulled Ron's arm over his shoulder and Stour did the same on the other side. They dragged him out of the room and down the corridor while Jess' screams rang after them.

"She's burning him, she's killing him, you've got to stop her!"


	6. While You Were Sleeping

**While You Were Sleeping**

DAY ONE

Hermione and Neville shoved their way past the protesting medi wizard who was blocking the doorway and ignored Healer Kalra's calls for them to stay out of the way while Ron's condition was assessed properly.

"Harry what happened to him?" Neville puffed as he noticed the stunned-looking young wizard slumped against the wall watching the medi witches and wizards doing all sorts of tests over Ron's still form where he lay in the bed just a little way away.

"He...we were just talking and laughing and then he..." Harry was shaking as Neville crouched down in front of him and tried to clam his friend's nerves a little, "...I don't know what happened Neville. His nose started bleeding and he was writing in a foreign language and it was like he wasn't there. It was like he was somebody else and then he just collapsed and I couldn't wake him."

Hermione wasn't looking at Harry as she listened to the story. In fact she wasn't really giving the story her full attention either. All she could do was focus on Ron and do her very best not to let her legs crumple beneath her, as they seemed to want to do so badly right at that moment.

"Miss Granger," Healer Kalra was pulling her away from the foot of the bed where she had frozen in shock and fear, "you really shouldn't be in here."

"But we want to help," Neville said as he rose to his feet again, "we can help with the basics can't we?"

One of the mediwitches was calling for Healer Kalra quite urgently to come and assist them and the Indian wizard guided Hermione into Neville's arms before breaking away from them towards Ron.

"Even if I did allow trainees at your level to assist I still wouldn't in this case as you are both so close to the patient now I really do need peace to help your friend Mr Longbottom. Would you please take Miss Granger and Mr Potter outside into the waiting area and notify his family for me?"

Neville nodded and reached down to take Harry's hand and haul him up to his feet before guiding his two old school friends towards the door, Hermione resisting all the way.

"I'll stay out of the way I promise," she pleaded the healer as he turned his full attention to his patient and tried his best to ignore her desperate sobs, "Please let me stay with him, please. I can't leave him on his own like this."

"Shhh," Neville said as he shoved the slightly zombified Harry through the door ahead of him and used both arms to gently wrestle Hermione outside, "he's not on his own is he? You'll be right outside okay? You're not going anywhere. You're not leaving him."

Hermione's head fell and her face crumpled as she burrowed it into Neville's robes and let herself be practically dragged out into the waiting area across the corridor.

While Hermione struggled to calm herself down and Harry tried his very best to snap out of his stupor and look after her Neville had rushed to the emergency floo at the end of the corridor and alerted Mr and Mrs Weasley, who promptly sent Errol on a Weasley to Weasley round trip with the same frantically scribbled piece of parchment. Soon enough the waiting area became too crowded to wait in and morphed into a pacing area.

Hermione and Ginny clung to each other and watched as medi witches and medi wizards came and went from the room. Sometimes they were bringing potions, other times weighty books on healing, but mostly they were dragging in healers of every different specialty that was available to consult on the case. Every time the consultants left looking frustrated or defeated.

Mrs Weasley was being supported and comforted by both Bill and Charlie while Fleur kept rubbing Mr Weasley's arm and murmuring soothing things in French that made Mr Weasley give a brave smile every now and then. The twins were dominating the pacing, they were almost perfectly synchronised, and Percy was standing outside the door chewing on his thumbnail and turning to stare at Harry every now and then. Harry soon got sick of the accusatory looks and joined the twins in their pacing.

"Longbottom?" a medi witch leaned out of the door and called out to the group while wiping the sweat from her brow.

"That's me," Neville said as he thrust his way through the crowd of concerned redheads, "I'm here!"

"Healer Kalra is asking for you, come in," the witch said with a nod.

"I'm coming too," Hermione said as she jumped to her feet, almost knocking Ginny flat on her back.

"No Miss Granger, Healer Kalra specified that you were to stay out here with your family."

Hermione was shaking with frustration at her apparent uselessness in this situation and Fred stopped pacing and grabbed her into a rigid one-armed hug.

"At least tell me what's going on," she said breathlessly, "tell me what's wrong with him, what are you doing for him. Tell me he's going to be alright," she demanded.

The medi witch looked at Hermione for a moment before turning away swiftly and closing the door behind her. Hermione broke down and Fred put his other arm around her to keep her standing.

"Now now Hermione dear," Mrs Weasley was saying bracingly through flushed cheeks and a waterlogged face, "don't you let yourself get all upset over this. He's going to be just fine I know it. It takes more than a little bit of possession and a couple of headaches to bring down a Weasley."

"Yeah," Fred said with a reassuring shake as Hermione looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, "if You-Know-Who couldn't do it then no one can!"

The door creaked again and Neville came out, white faced and unable to look anybody in the eye, Hermione practically threw Fred off as if he was a light scarf hanging loosely around her neck and grabbed her fellow trainee by the shoulders.

"What did Kalra say? How's Ron? What's going on in there?" she said before being silenced by Neville finally meeting her eyes.

"It's his head," Neville said with a crack in his voice that he tried to clear with a small cough, "something's just shut down in there and they can't seem to find out what it is or...how to restart it again."

There was a whimpering sound that Hermione thought was Mrs Weasley but she didn't pay any attention to it. Instead she shook Neville quite roughly and readied herself for the worst.

"What do you mean? What do you mean they can't restart it? What's his condition Neville?"

Neville took a deep breath and let it out slowly before shaking his head.

"It's a magical coma Hermione. There's nothing more they can do. Nobody knows how to wake him up. If he can...ever..." Neville just shook his head and hugged Hermione, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

DAY TWO

"Wakey wakey, rise and shine!" Hermione said cheerfully as she pulled back every curtain in the small private room where Ron was being monitored, "It's a beautiful morning out there. You don't want to miss it do you?"

Harry wiped the sleep from his eyes and squinted at Hermione with confusion.

"Hermione wha-"

"You know Harry I think I might move his bed to the left a little so the sunlight falls on his face, would you help me?" she said breezily.

Harry blinked and shook his head as if trying to identify this strange young woman who had burst into Ron's room in a Hermione costume. Last night she had been a total wreck and Mr Weasley had to almost resort to breaking her fingers to get her to let go of Ron and go back home to get some rest. Harry had stayed at the hospital overnight. He hadn't been able to face going back to the flat on his own. Not without Ron.

"Hermione come and sit down for a moment," Harry got up from his seat and patted it with his hand encouragingly.

"When we move his bed Harry. Nothing encourages a person to wake up more than the sun shining on their face and I think we should position him so it does just that."

As Hermione marched over to the opposite side of Ron's bed to Harry and readied herself to push he leaned over the bed and looked her directly in the eye.

"Hermione the sunlight isn't going to wake him up."

Hermione kept the chirpy smile on her face while her eyes hardened along with her voice as she stared right back at him.

"So you're not even going to bother trying is that it Harry? I never figured you for a quitter."

Harry blinked and watched Hermione for any signs of another tearful breakdown but there were none so he looked down at Ron and nodded.

"You push and I pull then right?" he said as he gripped the side of the bed.

Hermione nodded and her enforced chirpiness faded into a genuinely warm smile of appreciation.

"On the count of three," she said softly.

* * *

DAY THREE

There was a knock on Percy's office door and when he looked up and saw Harry Potter standing there his heart almost choked him with the speed it leapt into his throat.

"Oh Godric what's happened to him? He isn't..." Percy said as he rose from the desk while holding onto it for much needed support, "...he didn't?"

"No change," Harry said sadly and Percy dropped back into his chair as if gravity had given him a little extra pull.

"Oh thank..." Percy was sighing before his head snapped up and he scowled at Harry, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out what Percy recognised immediately as Ron's notepad and tossed it on the desk. Percy glanced down at the crumpled pages and then back up at Harry as he sat down across from him.

"This has something to do with the clinic or somebody at the clinic," Harry began before Percy could ask him what he wanted from him, "the clinic is non-magical. Ron's head problem might be non-magical too."

"You don't seriously believe that do you?" Percy scoffed and sat back in his chair, folding his arms.

"Nope," Harry said coolly, "I think it's more than magical. I think it's the kind of magic the Healers don't know about. I think it's the kind of magic Healers and Medi witches and the like aren't trained in. The kind of magic that is so powerful it can't be detected and that can be harnessed by whatever means within an entirely non-magical environment."

Percy unfolded his arms and sat forward again. He reached out for the note pad on his desk very slowly.

"What kind of magic are you talking about Potter?"

"Old magic," Harry said before nodding down to the pad, "Ron was channelling something ancient when his mind had to shut down to keep him alive. He was channelling powerful old magics or he was being possessed by a powerful old witch or wizard, I'm guessing witch, and his survival instinct's only option was a full blown shut down. All he kept going were his essential internal organs."

Percy looked down at the pad quickly before focusing back on Harry again.

"You think you know who this is then?"

"No idea," Harry shook his head, he seemed to be relieved that there was some kind of a dialogue going on between the two of them, however hostile."

"But you said you thought it was a witch."

"Yes I do," Harry nodded, "Jess, the seer girl Ron would get headaches working with, she'd get a vision every time she and Ron touched each other. She was having reoccurring visions of the same thing she saw whenever she and Ron touched every other day and even at night and in dreams."

"Visions of what exactly?"

"Visions of a young man of about twenty with red hair being burnt with white flames by a powerful witch in medieval looking clothing," Harry said with a sickened wince.

"Ron? She's been seeing Ron get hurt before he ever did and you did _nothing_?" Percy seethed.

"She's blind Percy!" Harry yelled as he banged his fist on the desk in annoyance, "she didn't know it was Ron to tell us. I only connected it all the day before and it was still so coincidental that I couldn't be sure. I thought it was the sapper guy. We all did, even the medical staff at the clinic, and Kalra checked Ron out just a little while ago for residual magic somewhere inside him."

"Does the family know about this?" Percy said, feeling livid that he had been kept in the dark over his own brother's welfare.

"Nobody but me, Hermione, Ginny and Neville, we were trying to find out what the problem was but there just didn't seem to be one. We didn't have anything to tell any of you."

Percy looked back down at the pad again, anything rather than looking at Harry and trying not to punch his lights out, he read some strange sentences in Ron's handwriting before frowning to see an unfamiliar scribble in and unfamiliar language.

"So where does this come from then?" Percy waved the pad in front of him.

"Ron was writing this when his nose started bleeding and just before he collapsed. He had done something weird like that before. Using words and phrases that were unlike him...more like you in fact," Harry shrugged.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Intelligent and articulate, like you and Hermione," Harry huffed before continuing, "He was writing something in a foreign language while his head was being messed up and I think this might be the key to getting him back again. I want to get him back Percy and you're the only person I know cleverer than Hermione when it comes to stuff like this."

"Stuff like what?" Percy blinked; shocked to have just been paid a compliment.

"Languages and translations," Harry shrugged, "It's what you do isn't it? You're fast too. You picked up sign language like it was nothing. You speak how many languages now?"

"Eight," Percy mumbled as he looked back at the pad and squinted at some of the words, "This is really similar to Spanish but it's not. Probably Portuguese, I can work on it if you leave this with me."

Harry exhaled and nodded. For a very brief moment Percy could've sworn that Harry had smiled at him. The stranger thing was that Percy had almost smiled back.

* * *

DAY FOUR

Hermione positioned Ron's bed in the 'sitting up' position before lathering up the brush and applying it to Ron's chin generously.

"I didn't realise how fast you could grow a beard Ron," she said with a smile as she tilted his head to spread the lather onto his cheeks, "you're always so smooth normally."

She had stopped in on him during her lunch break and sat talking to him while she sipped her pumpkin juice and barely touched her salad. When she left to return to work she brushed his cheek with her lips and almost tore them open on his three-day growth. Not only was Ron's stubble getting long but it was tough as wire and she had been using chap stick on her lips ever since.

"How am I supposed to kiss you with that barbed wire fence growing out of your face eh?" she said lightly.

She put the brush down and picked up the razor.

"Now hold still for me okay? I don't want to cut you anymore than you already have been," she tried to laugh at this comment but the flash of silver and blood went through her mind as she remembered Harry holding that blade and Ron's awful gurgling sound.

She shook her head clear of that memory and began to shave Ron.

"Now I won't be saying this too often understand? But it is not okay for you to wake up right now. Wait 'till I'm done alright?"

Hermione paused to listen to Ron's reply. It never came.

"Good," she nodded as if the two of them had just done a silent deal.

Hermione finished the rest of Ron's shave in silence. She put away the shaving kit and wiped his face clean before smiling with pride at her work and leaning over to plant a kiss on her boyfriend's smooth cheek.

"There you go," she whispered, "that's more like it."

She kissed the other cheek and then the tip of his long nose before settling her lips against Ron's and hovering there. The two pairs of lips were just barely brushing against each other for several long seconds before Hermione whispered.

"Aren't you going to kiss me Ron?"

She waited and shivered as she felt his breath on her face. She closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips to his before standing up and gathering her things to go home.

"I'm off now, I'll see you in the morning okay?"

She walked to the door and turned the doorknob before looking back one last time.

"Don't go anywhere will you?"

* * *

DAY FIVE

"Right I've got too much to eat it all myself so you're going to have to help me out here okay?" Charlie said as he unpacked the huge picnic basket he had brought to St Mungo's that afternoon.

He pulled out a whole cured ham; some steaming hot roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, some slices of roast beef and a steak and Guinness pie.

"Now I've got a roast chicken in the other basket if you'd prefer, I bought the whole thing because I forgot if you were a leg or a breast man. I mean since puberty I figured your preferences as far as those things were concerned might have changed."

Charlie grinned and watched his little brother's face for a moment before shrugging.

"Well be like that then you moody sod. I laugh at all your lame jokes."

Charlie lifted the roast potatoes and wafted them beneath Ron's nose.

"Five days mate," he said enticingly, "Come on you've got to be hungry after five days."

Charlie put the potatoes down and lifted a small gravy boat with an unspillable charm placed upon it for the journey.

"Mum made this especially for you, onion gravy," Charlie leaned over and sniffed deeply, "Mmmm mmmm mmmm, couldn't you just drink it all right from the boat like you did that time when you were little?" Charlie chuckled as he remembered his mother's screeches of protest as her baby boy downed a whole Weasley family worth of gravy before giving a satisfied burp and being sent to his room.

Ron had grumbled about having to miss the rest of his dinner but would always say in the years that followed that it had been worth it.

"Open up and I'll pour," Charlie said as he let the smell drift up into Ron's nostrils.

His face didn't even flicker. Charlie couldn't imagine a world where Ron would ignore food, especially their mother's cooking, and his cocky demeanour faltered for a moment before he pulled himself together again and set the gravy boat down and plunged his hands back into the picnic basket.

"I've got some breaded plaice if you fancy fish?"

Charlie glanced back at Ron's face and shrugged.

"Nah, I'm not much of a fish man either. So what about something light to start you off with then eh?"

Charlie rested his elbows on the bed and cupped his head in both hands while gazing intently at his brother.

"Your stomach must've shrunk by now, you probably don't want a big dinner do ya? I could do you cheese on toast if you like?"

Charlie waited for a response before reaching out with one of his hands and picking a stray red hair off of Ron's face.

"Maybe some eggs?"

* * *

DAY SIX

"Right lazy bones!" Hermione said briskly as she strode into Ron's room and threw down her notes from training that day, "It's time for you to get some exercise."

Hermione had been reading some muggle medical books about coma patients and decided that she wouldn't allow Ron's muscles to waste away while his brain recovered from it's temporary shutdown.

"We need to keep those arms and legs toned so you can use them when you wake up. I'm not going to carry you everywhere and how do you expect to sign to me if you can't lift your arms eh?"

Hermione rolled up her sleeves and grabbed Ron's left leg by the ankle and lifted it up to her shoulder.

"Right I want you to push against me on three okay? One two three!"

Hermione braced herself and gritted her teeth dramatically before huffing.

"Well that was just pathetic! I'm going to have to move your leg for you."

Hermione began to bend and flex Ron's leg while moving it back and forth in a rhythmic motion.

"Join in any time Ron," she said as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

DAY SEVEN

Fred sat at Ron's left and George on Ron's right. They looked from their little brother's face to each other and nodded before leaning in towards Ron's ears and taking a deep breath.

_"Cock-a-doodle-do!"_ they bellowed in unison.

A medi witch came rushing into the room and looked at the three redheads in a great deal of alarm before regaining her composure and glaring at the twins.

"What on earth do you two think you are doing? This is a hospital not a farmyard!"

Fred shrugged.

"We just figured that nobody had tried that yet."

* * *

DAY EIGHT

Hermione crept into Ron's room an hour earlier than usual and pulled the personal CD player out of her beg.

"Morning Ron," she whispered as she pulled out a handful of CDs and stacked them on the bedside table, "I thought you might be getting a bit bored laying around here all day and night so I bought you something to occupy you when I'm not here."

Hermione untangled the wire from the headphones and placed them over Ron's ears gently, pausing tobrush his hair back from his face and stroke his cheek with her thumb, before flipping through the selection of CDs at her side.

"It's a muggle device that plays musical discs to you. I've bought some different kinds of stuff. I'm not really sure what muggle music you'd like really."

Hermione read out the titles and gave Ron a mini summary for each of them as she did. After every album review she hesitated and looked at his face for the tiniest little movement, even just a sigh, before moving on to the next one.

"Right well this is one of my dad's and it's like poetry more than music, Bob Dylan? Heard of him Ron? I bought the Freewheelin' album, it's my personal favourite. Then there's The Divine Comedy, they've got some really clever funny songs as well as some sweet little love songs as well...Ron? Yes or no to that one? Okay well after that I've got One Step Beyond by Madness, don't let the name put you off, they're really lively and fun, I think I'll put that to one side for you, I really do think you'll like it. So then we've got Pulp, they sound the most like the Weird Sisters so that's why I bought their album, although there's a lot more sex in their lyrics, I'm not sure the medi witches would appreciate it if they came in to check on you and you had an erection eh?"

Hermione found herself clamping her hand over her mouth to stifle the uncontrollable wave of giggles that had suddenly come over her. She was so tired these days that she would break out in laughter or tears at the slightest of things. She hurriedly moved on to the next disc in the stack.

"I've brought the Kinks with me too," she paused to see if Ron's eyebrow tried to raise, just a tiny little bit, in that way she knew he would do if he were awake but nothing registered on his face at all, "This is one of my mum's old Elton John albums from the seventies. His older stuff is really beautiful. I might play that when we're both here so we can snuggle up on the bed. I've been missing you at night Ron. I've just been missing you full stop. Come on I know you're stronger then this magic, I've seen you fight so hard so many times. I know you can wake up if you want to."

Hermione took his hand in hers and brought it up to her lips and kissed it.

"I suppose you're just a little tired right now aren't you? Don't worry, you get as much sleep as you want to okay?"

She let go of his hand and picked up the next disc.

"Well I don't really know what I was thinking when I brought this one but you might like it, it's very...unique, Led Zeppelin. Then the last one is The Proclaimers; they're Scottish. I really like them. There's this one song, Sunshine on Leith, which I've always wanted to dance to with you. You'll get up and dance with me when you've finished with all this sleeping won't you Ron?"

Hermione bit her lip and opened the CD case and lifted the Proclaimers disc out and placed it into the small CD player. She found the track and pressed play. She leaned forward and kissed Ron on the lips, close enough to hear the music emanating from the tiny speakers, and lifted one of the headphones away from his ear so she could whisper to him.

"Do you mind if I have this dance?"

Hermione lifted the headphones off and set them just above his head on the pillow before turning the volume right up so she could hear the song clearly enough to dance to. Then she raised Ron's bed into the sitting position while she shuffled onto it and curled her arms around him while resting her head on his shoulder.

She began to rock from side to side slowly as she lifted Ron's right hand with her own and interlaced their fingers together.

'_While I'm worth my room on this earth_

_I will be with you._

_While the Chief, puts sunshine on Leith_

_I'll thank him for his work_

_And your birth and my birth'_

"Do you want to dip me?" Hermione sighed and she held Ron close to her and felt the familiar warmth of him.

She leaned as far over to one side as she could go without falling before coming back up again and smiling to herself.

"Look at you, you've got some moves for an unconscious guy!"

Hermione stopped rocking and hugged Ron as the tears fell. She squeezed her eyes closed as firmly as she could to try and hold them in but it only made it worse. She kissed Ron on the cheek and sniffed.

"I love you."

* * *

DAY NINE

Harry looked up when he heard Percy clearing his throat from the doorway to Ron's room.

"Oh hi," he mumbled to the bespectacled Weasley as he approached Ron's bed slowly.

"How's he doing?" Percy said so quietly that Harry could almost have imagined it.

"I don't know," Harry said sadly as he tidied away a stack of magazines and CDs that were strewn all over the spare chair so Percy could sit down, "Neville and Kalra are in and out all the time with something new to try and every time..." Harry shook his head, "...he doesn't even flinch."

Percy sat up straight and gave a superior sniff in that arrogant way of his before patting his sleeping brother on the arm quite bracingly.

"Well give it time eh? They're going to make plenty of stupid mistakes before they find the solution but it'll come."

Percy reached into the briefcase at his feet and clicked it open. Harry frowned as he watched, not knowing what kind of ground he was on with Percy right now as the older man wouldn't make eye contact with him anymore, and Percy sat upright again and set Ron's notepad on the sleeping boy's chest before unfurling a small scroll of parchment and clearing his throat.

"I was right you know? It is Portuguese," Percy said as he adjusted his glasses to rest on the tip of his nose as he scanned both the pad and the parchment.

"So were you able to..." Harry began before being cut off but Percy's eagle eyes staring at him over the rims of his glasses and then quickly moving back down to rest upon his brother's face again.

"I was talking to Ron," Percy said sharply before taking a calming breath in and out and addressing Harry while still focusing his full attention on his eerily still brother, "I've heard all sorts of little comments as I walk the corridors at the ministry and I hear them on the wards here too. They think we're all mad Harry. Talking to an empty shell with no mind inside as if it can hear us. Delusional somebody called the family the other day. I'm afraid I had to hit him."

Harry found himself gasping on an accidental laugh as it briefly escaped his lips. He smiled at the strangely stiff Weasley as he shuffled his papers unnecessarily.

"You hit someone?"

Percy flushed in the face.

"Well I attempted to. I have to say I've never thrown a punch in my life and I didn't really do it right. The man, the _ignorant fool_ I should say, just seemed startled rather than hurt. I'd have done more damage had I thrown a glass of tepid water into his face."

Harry really did laugh this time. He looked at Ron and wished that his best friend were alert enough to have just heard that story. He willed Ron to smirk just a little, how could he not do? How would he be able to resist it if indeed he could hear them at all?

"If you mention this to Fred or George please tell them I drew blood. I can do without more of their jibes thank you very much," Percy cleared his throat and leaned over to straighten the covers on Ron's bed, he gave a slight pat on Ron's chest as he withdrew his hand and picked up the pad again, "If Hermione thinks it might be possible for him to hear us then that's good enough for me."

Harry nodded.

"Me too."

Percy looked Harry in the eye and addressed him directly for the first time.

"Well I've got your translation for you Pott- Harry," Percy presented the parchment with a small flourish, "It's almost as if the person, the witch, who's using Ron in whatever way is trying to escape from somewhere, Ron's channelling their plea for freedom. The thing is there are warnings too, it's almost like the sorting hat in a way," Percy frowned as Harry took the parchment from him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well the warnings it gave towards the end of your time there, just as the war was warming up, like an omniscient presence rather then a living telepath or Legilemens," Percy said thoughtfully.

Harry scanned the parchment while Percy turned back to Ron and smiled. He leaned over his brother's still form and held the pad up in front of him.

"You see Ronald what you have here," he pointed at the first line of Ron's foreign scribble, "is essentially the key to the whole thing, the summary of what this invasion of your head is all about."

"I have to be released," Harry read aloud.

"Exactly, something is trapped and you or your seer friend is the key maybe. It could simply be that you're the negotiator for this...entities freedom."

"But this next line," Harry pointed out, "split between two prisons. One eternal, the other weakening and dying. That sounds to me as if..."

"Ron's one of the prisons this thing is trapped in?" Percy said with an arched eyebrow, "Yes I read it that way too. I was hoping it was just my over analytical brain making me think the worst but you've seen it that way as well."

"Weakening and dying," Harry repeated to himself, "that can't mean Ron can it?"

"Well he isn't weakening right now is he?" Percy said briskly, "but that could be because he's stopped functioning. He doesn't have enough of his brain functioning to deteriorate any further."

"But while he was conscious," Harry said as he began to piece the puzzle together and see fragments of the bigger picture, "he was getting worse and worse every day. He was tired and his head... All that blacking out when he'd never done it before in his life."

Percy seemed to shake himself out of thinking something and focused his attention back onto Ron again with an uneasy smile.

"You see here are some key words Ronald," Percy pointed to the words as he highlighted their meaning to his unresponsive brother, "_embarcação, refém, captores, _and this one is obviously prisons again isn't it?"

Percy examined Ron's face and blinked.

"Ron aren't you going to look? I'm explaining this for your benefit you know?"

Harry cracked a small smile at Percy addressing Ron as if he was avoiding doing his homework in the common room late at night.

"Just take a little peep at it for me will you? You wrote it after all," Percy said before sighing and carrying on with his tutorial as if Ron had complied with his request obediently, "Right well those key words; vessel, hostage, captors and prisons; they've got me thinking that there are three key players involved in this. There's the vessel, which may or may not be you or your blind friend. Then there's the hostage, this is the thing that is causing all this trouble for us all, and it's like a series of escape attempts that aren't working. Then there are the captors who are required to burn down the prisons."

Harry read the translated line from his own parchment to himself.

"Free the vessel. Release the hostage. Let the captors burn the prisons."

Harry swallowed and looked up at Percy with fear in his eyes.

"Jess kept seeing Ron on fire. He has to burn to let this thing go. His 'hostage' kills him from within or he burns to death letting them out."

Percy straightened up and set his jaw with determination.

"Not necessarily. The vessel and the second prison, the deteriorating one that we suspect might be Ronald, are the same thing. This says to free the vessel, release the hostage and _then_ burn the prisons. This might be a cleansing fire rather then a destructive one."

Harry shook his head and remembered Jess's screams every time she had a vision.

"That's a big 'if' though isn't it?"

"I didn't say 'if' at all Harry so no it isn't," Percy said arrogantly before looking back at the pad and reading the next line out to Ron in a perfect Portuguese accent, "_Deixe a garra do Raven ir. Dê-lhe a paz._"

"Let the claw of the raven go. Give her peace," Harry read aloud.

"And if that needs any explaining you're both stupider than I feared," Percy huffed.

"Ravenclaw's the prisoner? She's the medieval witch who's burning Ron in Jess' visions?" Harry gasped.

"Very intelligent woman Rowena Ravenclaw, she could speak many languages you know?" Percy said nonchalantly, "Except of course sign language. So she'd obviously...have to write."

Harry looked at Ron's pale face sadly.

"So this isn't just old magic that's done this to him, it's powerful secret magic from one of Hogwarts founders? Lost when she died along with so many other powerful spells and ideas."

"What any number of power-hungry wizards and witches would do to get their hands on an insight into the mind of the most brilliant witch in magical history," Percy said with a shake of the head, "rumour has it some in the ministry are still trying to access her spirit or something along those lines to persuade her to share the knowledge with them."

Harry shook his head, rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Why is the ministry involved in everything a little unethical when there's something to gain from it?"

Percy scowled at Harry who folded his arms across his chest defiantly and dared Percy to tell him the ministry was corruption free. Percy said nothing and turned back to Ron again.

"Now here we have mention of two other houses at Hogwarts, no Hufflepuff funnily enough but there's no ambition or exceptional courageousness there so that can be understood I suppose, but I take it sons of Slytherin means..."

"Death Eaters," Harry snarled.

Percy nodded sharply.

"My thought too. Death Eaters seek the eyes, ears and mouth," Percy drew in a breath and winced as he went on with his theory with a great deal of reluctance, "well your friend had her sight taken by Death Eaters and you lost your ability to speak due to..."

Percy paused and glanced from Ron's ugly scar over to Harry who looked pale all of a sudden. Percy swallowed and went on.

"You had your voice stolen from you by the very heir of Slytherin himself, maybe there is another component to all this not yet involved as far as we can tell. Unless of course that Sapper fellow was deafened by Death Eaters?"

Harry shook his head.

"Oh well, worth a try," Percy shrugged, "anyway the Death Eaters need the three components in order to raise the dead according to this. It then goes on to say that the son of Gryffindor can't survive this resurrection."

Harry felt sick. That clearly meant that a Gryffindor was going to die if the resurrection was attempted.

"Which leaves us with the last line which tells us what we already knew. _O fogo terminá-lo-á todo._ The fire will end it all."

Harry stared at the parchment he held in his hands and re read it yet again while Percy set the pad on Ron's bedside table and surreptitiously took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze before rising up from his seat.

"Well I have to get back to work, there's some kind of special case I've been called on to help out with. A translators work is never done."

"Tell me about it," Harry murmured.

They looked at each other for a long second before Percy shook himself out of his temporary freeze and stooped to pick up his briefcase.

"I'll pop by sometime soon Ronald, goodbye."

Harry watched Percy leave and close the door behind him.

"If you can figure him out feel free to sit up and explain it to me," Harry smiled at Ron.

* * *

DAY TEN

"I'm getting so good at these now I could do it with my eyes closed," Hermione grinned as she leaned Ron forward and began to rub the moist sponge up and down his bare back.

There had been a few occasions when a medi witch or a trainee from a different department to Hermione and Neville's would be assigned to give Ron a bed bath but Hermione would have none of it. It wasn't really a jealousy thing as far as the pretty young witches were concerned, well not just that, but a desire to have as much physical contact with Ron as she possibly could.

"Right you, arm up," she said in a business like fashion as she sat Ron back again and lifted his arm to begin cleaning all the way down from his wrist to his shoulder and then giving a good firm scrub under the armpit.

She idly traced the swirling scar tissue that snaked all the way up Ron's arm as she worked before letting it drop and lifting the other one to clean it in the same way.

"I'm thinking of going into business you know?" she said in a carefree kind of voice while she set about dipping the sponge back into the water and wringing it out before rubbing the damp sponge across Ron's chest, "Bed baths and beyond, what do you think?"

Hermione smiled and leaned over to kiss Ron softly on his barely parted lips.

"Of course that little perk is exclusively for you and you alone," she smiled before pulling back the blankets and working on Ron's stomach.

"Oh dear, you're losing all that lovely muscle tone Ron, we're going to have to work on building you up again properly when you wake up aren't we? Maybe it's just that you haven't eaten in...ten days."

Hermione stood still for a moment and tried not to dwell on that fact that Ron's nourishment and re-hydration were all magically achieved and that, if left to his own devices, Ron would have starved to death or dehydrated days ago.

Hermione threw the covers back over Ron's torso and moved around to the foot of the bed to expose his legs and get to work on them.

"I hope you appreciate all this effort I'm going to Ron," she said breezily, "Merlin knows nobody else does."

* * *

DAY ELEVEN

"I've got it!" Arthur said suddenly as he sprang up in his chair at Ron's bedside.

He had been sitting alone with his youngest boy ever since Hermione had left to return to work and Molly had been forcibly removed by Harry and ordered to eat. Arthur had offered to stay with Ron so he wasn't alone but that wasn't the only reason.

He wanted some exclusive time with his son.

"Do you remember when you were very little," Arthur began as he yanked the bed covers out from under the mattress at the foot of Ron's bed, "and you used to pretend to be asleep when your mother wanted to give you reading lessons or told you to occupy your sister? Sometimes you really were asleep and wanted to keep dozing so when anybody in the family tried to wake you up they wouldn't be able to?"

Arthur exposed Ron's bare feet and smiled.

"You'd pretend to be in such a heavy sleep that a cannon couldn't wake you didn't you?"

Arthur picked up one of his sons feet and cradled it in his left hand.

"I was the only one who knew your weakness wasn't I? I was the only one who ever got you to drop the act and have to get up remember? Remember what I used to do Ron?"

Arthur smiled at his son's blank face before stroking his finger down the length of the sole of Ron's foot and curling it up again just before reaching his heel to dig his finger tip in and wriggle it just below the ball of Ron's foot.

"Achilles had his heel and you have the arch of your foot and the most sensitive ticklish spot in the history of mankind!" Arthur chuckled as he did the movement once again and stared up at Ron's still face where the was absolutely no reaction at all.

Arthur's smile faded and he sighed to himself as he looked back down at Ron's foot and frowned.

"My word Ron, I've never seen your feet so clean!"

* * *

DAY TWELVE

"Do you remember our last night together Ron?" Hermione said as she rested her chin on his shoulder and stared up at his closed eyes.

"I brought you something to remind you," she said with a smile before sitting up and pulling a small chocolate marble from her pocket.

It had begun to melt and she scrunched up her face and tossed the squidgy chocolate sphere into the bin. She stared down at her chocolate smeared fingers and began to lick them clean before hesitating at the last of them and looking back over at Ron.

She smiled and shuffled her chair even closer to his bedside.

"Here," she said as she lifted her finger to his lips and pushed it very slowly and gently into his mouth, letting the melted chocolate linger a little on his lips before caressing the surface of his tongue, "isn't that nice?"

Hermione withdrew her finger and sucked the remaining chocolate off before leaning over Ron and licking her lips.

"You've got some on your face there," she breathed huskily as she bent over and licked Ron's bottom lip free of chocolate.

"There you go...all gone."

Hermione remained hovering over him. Her hair falling like curtains around both of their faces, giving them privacy from the outside world and forming a soft brown cocoon that enveloped them in that moment. Hermione's lips were still almost touching Ron's own and she closed the distance and pressed them together firmly.

"You taste like chocolate," she smiled before planting another softer kiss on his warm lips and returning to her seat.

She took his hand in hers and closed her eyes with a smile.

"Just like I remember it."

* * *

DAY THIRTEEN

"Now I know this'll work," Ginny said with determination as she sat down on the edge of Ron's bed and got straight to business.

She pulled a matchbox out of her pocket and slid the draw open.

"There's one thing you can never ignore isn't there? One thing that you'll never have any self control over," Ginny shook the matchbox out onto Ron's forearm.

A small spider with long spindly legs tumbled out and landed on it's back on Ron's arm.

"I bought one of Aragog's descendants to come and wake you up," Ginny smiled as she pushed the spider the right way up and watched as it scuttled along the freckled skin of Ron's arm.

"Can you feel it crawling on you Ron?" Ginny said, teasingly, "it's almost at your elbow now. Can you feel it's eight long hairy legs?"

The spider dwelled for a short time at the crook of Ron's elbow before getting it's legs a little tangled in the fine red hairs on Ron's arm and rushing up onto his bicep.

"Oh look it's heading up to your shoulder now, It'll be on your neck and crawling into the first dark place it can find."

Ginny watched with a fresh kind of pain in her eyes and her brother didn't make the slightest cringe or shudder or even a tiny little flicker of the eye lid as the horror of his young life crept all over him with ease.

"Will it choose your nostrils or your ear or your mouth? Where do you think Aragog junior's going to set up home eh?"

Ginny watched as the spider crawled along Ron's collarbone and she reached out her hand to scoop it up and carry it over to the window in her cupped hands. She set the arachnid on the window ledge before turning back to face Ron where he lay still and passive as ever.

"Worth a try though wasn't it?" she shrugged.

* * *

DAY FOURTEEN

"So what are we thinking today then?" Hermione said as she pulled out two t shirts from her bag and shook them out in front of her, "blue or brown?"

Hermione draped the blue shirt over Ron's body and stood back to consider it for a moment before swapping it for the brown one with the chocolate frog logo emblazoned across it in bright orange.

"I know how your mother likes you in earth tones but I think the blue's perfect for you. It's just like your eyes and it'd really make them sparkle in that way they do when you actually _open them!"_ Hermione put her hands on her hips and feigned annoyance before whipping the brown shirt away from Ron's chest, smiling and leaning over him to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

"You're right, who wants to dress the way their mother likes anyway? If I did I'd be in nothing but flowery Laura Ashley dresses the whole time and I think you'll agree that really isn't my style at all!"

Hermione tossed the brown t-shirt back on top of her bag and draped the blue one over her arm and she sat on the side of Ron's hospital bed and sat him up, leaning him against her so she could pull the shirt over his head. She manipulated his arms through the sleeves and rested him back into his half-sitting half- reclining position and smoothed out his hair again.

"Blue is definitely your colour," she smiled.

* * *

DAY FIFTEEN

"In a season where the Cannons promised nothing and delivered worse one would have to wonder why the diehard fans even bother..." Harry looked from the quiddich magazine he had bought for Ronto his unconscious best friend and fanned through the pages for a less harsh article to read him.

"The team, in its present format, had an extremely successful season, finishing third in the Conference league, and reaching the quiddich cup first round, before losing fifty-four to five-thousand-three hundred in a real thriller to Leyton," Harry burst out laughing at this, "and they call the Cannons bad!"

"Mr Potter?" the voice of Healer Kalra called from the open door.

Harry turned to see the bearded healer and a very tired looking Neville stepping through into the room hesitantly.

"Got something else to try?" Harry said with that same fake hopefulness that he adopted every time the healer and his brain specialist trainee came by with another charm or potion to administer.

"A modification of what we used last time actually," Healer Kalra smiled as the approached Ron's bedside, "Good morning Mr Weasley."

Harry smiled at Neville as the healer began to swirl his wand over Ron, delivering the basic re-hydration spells and filling him with much needed nutrients. The healer didn't buy into this whole talking to a patient with a partially functioning brain in a deep magical comatose state but he would still greet Ron and bid him farewell out of courtesy to his family who were all adamant that it was doing some good.

On one occasion the wizard had spilled a little potion on Ron's cheek while manipulating it down his throat and instinctively apologised to him. The Weasley's really liked him and respected him as a healer despite all his best efforts getting them nowhere so far.

"Mr Longbottom if you would be so kind?" Healer Kalra mumbled to Neville as he set about casting a swirling white mist around Ron's head that soon turned to patchy grey, "Now you see the cloudiness here, that's what we have to clear alright?"

Neville nodded silently before pointing his own wand at Ron and muttering something so rapidly that Harry couldn't even begin to make it out. A silver jet of what looked like steam but soon took on the appearance of cotton wool emerged from Neville's wand and began to swirl around the grey cloud that surrounded Ron's head. The snake like silver fluff seemed to be trying to mummify the grey patches, wipe them away or absorb them in some way, Harry couldn't tell what the intention was but he could see that it clearly wasn't working.

Both wands made a fizzing sound and a clump of, what appeared to be foam from a bubble bath only dark grey, splodged onto Ron's head.

"Oh buggering wank!" Healer Kalra grumbled while Neville huffed his own disappointment at this new failure.

Harry was trying not to laugh at hearing such a well respected man cursing like...well like Ron himself and watched as the disgruntled healer flicked his wand at Ron's head and snapped the cleaning spell to remove all trace of the grey bubbles.

"Well sorry Ron, maybe next time," Healer Kalra said before slapping Neville on the back and guiding him back out of the door, "Don't be so despondent boy, if at first you don't succeed."

"Fail five or six more times and then develop a drinking problem!" Neville sighed.

Harry laughed at this and Neville turned around and gave a smile of apology before waving.

"Bye Harry, Ron, until next time eh?"

Harry waved the pair of them off and picked up the magazine he had been reading from once again.

"Right where were we? Oh yeah, This season has been a momentous one for the Daggers, culminating in the trophy final, their sixty fifth match this season. Where they bravely lost by only one hundred and seventy points despite playing the last fifteen minutes with only a beater and the seeker in the position of keeper as all the other players were sent off for beating an opposing fan into unconsciousness with their broomsticks."

Harry threw back his head and roared with laughter.

"Oh mate you're definitely supporting the wrong team!"

* * *

DAY FIFTEEN

Bill stepped as softly as he could into Ron's room so as not to wake Hermione who was sleeping in the chair at his bedside. He was the epitome of stealth if he did say so himself. Well he had been right up until he tripped over an empty potion bottle on the floor and screamed like a little girl as he fell with a thud to the floor.

"Ron?" Hermione gasped as her head snapped up and she grabbed the unconscious boy's limp hand.

"No it's Bill," he called up from his position sprawled on the floor, "sorry!"

Hermione regained her composure and crossed the room to help him up.

"What happened?" she asked him as he stood upright and massaged his back.

"What happened was, I used to have this enigmatic kind of grace and then I lost it!"

Hermione chuckled at this as she helped him over to an empty chair.

"Somebody left a potion bottle on the floor, I skidded on it a bit," he explained as he groaned with discomfort.

"Yes Neville and Kalra were back in here again, there were bottles everywhere, we though we'd got them all."

"Any luck?" Bill said as he forgot his own bruises and looked Ron up and down eagerly.

"Nothing," she shook her head sadly, "all they managed to do was inflame his old scars from the department of Mysteries but they fixed it again just before they left.

Bill sighed.

"Y'know I saw Neville the other day in the cafeteria and I could've sworn he was going prematurely grey."

Hermione smiled at this.

"Well he probably will do what with all the worrying he puts himself through but that was just an accidental explosion he caused while trying to send a patient suffering from memory loss into a trance."

"He caused an explosion trying to hypnotise somebody?" Bill exclaimed.

Hermione shrugged and felt thankful that nothing quite as bad as that had happened during Neville's work on Ron so far.

"So is there anything we haven't tried yet?" Bill asked as he absentmindedly ruffled Ron's hair in his trademark big brother way.

Hermione responded to this query while, in a display of similar absent mindedness, flattened Ron's hair back down again.

"Well I gave up on my incessant poking idea, scraping the bottom of the barrel with that one I think," she smiled wearily.

"Incessant poking?" Bill frowned, not sure he really wanted to know more about this method.

Hermione rolled her eyes and began to demonstrate by prodding her index finger in fast firm jabs into Ron's shoulder repeatedly. As she continued to do so she looked up at Bill and explained herself.

"I'm trying to annoy him into waking up."

Bill smiled and shook his head at the downward turn Hermione's sanity appeared to have taken before pulling his chair further up the bed and beginning to incessantly poke his brother's other shoulder too.

"How long do we keep this up for then?" he asked.

"Until we get cramp or somebody interrupts us and demands to know what on earth we're doing to him," Hermione said carelessly.

"Cool," Bill shrugged.

* * *

DAY SIXTEEN

Molly took off her coat and set it on the back of her chair. She pushed Ron's hair back from his face and planted a kiss on his forehead before grumbling about blue really not being his colour and settling down to tell him all the family news like she always did.

"You father's collection is ridiculous now Ronnie it really is. As soon as he saw that 'seedy player' Hermione brought you to listen to he got a bee in his bonnet about electronic music and now he's talking about pods that grow eyes that you can listen to thousands of different kind of music with."

Molly shook her head and wondered where in her precious garden her husband would be planting these pods so he could harvest a whole crop of eye-pods for his own personal use.

"Bill and Fleur have had an argument about Gabrielle, you remember Fleur's little sister don't you Ronnie dear? Well she wants to attend Hogwarts for her N.E.W.T. year but Fleur won't have it, thinks that 'Oggwarts' is an inferior magical education to Beuxbatons. What a pile of tripe!"

Molly did like Fleur a little more these days but she still felt as if her daughter in law's family considered the Weasley family beneath them socially somewhat.

"Charlie got called out to capture an out of control dragon in Minsk but he'll be back this evening. Promises me he didn't get a scratch on him but you know what a good liar he is? Percy has been almost getting along with Harry too."

Molly shuffled forward in her chair and lowered her voice.

"I know I thought that too but they really are...I don't know, accepting of each other these days. They still don't really like each other in the same way the rest of us all get along but it's like the spite is gone. Oh I really hope so, I hated all that unpleasantness I really did. Even the twins noticed it at Sunday dinner last week."

Molly thought about the twins and sighed. She knew that they had been really struggling with this whole coma thing and didn't know any other way to behave other than like themselves. Molly hadn't thought that 'themselves' was really suitable for a hospital but she couldn't dictate how her family coped with this any more than she could order Ron to open his eyes and sit up.

"Open your eyes and sit up right now Ronald Bilius Weasley!" she snapped suddenly, shocking even herself.

She huffed and fussed with Ron's pillow. It had been worth a try.

"Ginny sends her love and thinks she's got another brilliant idea to get you to come round. I dread to think what her first brilliant idea was Ronnie but whatever she did I'm sure it was out of love."

Molly took his hand in hers and stroked it gently.

"Can you squeeze my hand for me dear?" she said softly, "just a little squeeze to let me know you can hear me."

She brought their two hands up to her face and leaned against them with her forehead, closing her eyes.

"Just one little bit of pressure with one of your fingertips Ronnie, please. Just to show me that you're still in there."

She waited...and waited...and waited...

* * *

DAY SEVENTEEN

Ginny burst into the room with something under her robes and a look of determination on her face. She pulled the small feathery bundle out with one hand and held her wand to it with her other.

"Wake up or the owl gets it!" she demanded while Pig cheerfully hooted and squirmed to greet his master.

Ron didn't move.

Ginny huffed and let Pig go where he fluttered over to Ron and perched upon his head.

"I would have done it y'know?" Ginny grumbled as she sat down.

* * *

DAY EIGHTEEN

Hermione signed out with reception after her first night shift ended at five o'clock in the morning and wandered up to Ron's room for a hug and a kiss before she went home to sleep. She opened the door and saw his face lit by candlelight and smiled.

She reached his side and gave him a peck on the cheek, then the other and then a lingering kiss on the lips before stifling a yawn and leaning in close enough to smell his hair.

"I'm knackered y'know that? On my feet all day and yet here you are lapping up all the sympathy. I don't know Ron, how d'you do it eh?" she smiled and sat on the edge of his bed and began to play with his hair inbetween her fingers.

She had to got home, get cleaned up, get into bed and then get a few hours sleep before coming back to St Mungo's by noon. She didn't have a shift, in fact she had the whole day off, but she couldn't miss a single day with Ron. She'd come and be with him whether she was required to be at the hospital for work or not.

"It's a shame I have to leave at all isn't it? I'm so tired I could just curl up with you and sleep 'till you wake up," she sighed before leaning over and kissing him again.

She thought for a moment. Why couldn't she sleep with her boyfriend? He wouldn't mind, she'd done it before, and she was sure he'd like the company. She shifted on the bed and lifted her legs up so she was now lying on her side facing Ron.

"You don't mind sharing do you?" she smiled as he eyelids hug heavy over her eyes.

She rested her head on Ron's shoulder and draped her arm across his chest, curling her hand around to pull him into a hug and she snuggled comfortably into him.

"'Night love."

* * *

DAY NINETEEN

Fred dealt the cards between himself George and Ron before fanning his cards out and considering his options.

"Ooh I see Ickle Ronniekins has been working on his poker face, can't read him at all these days can you Fred?" George said with an arched eyebrow.

"Nope George, he's definitely Mr Cool these days," Fred tossed a galleon onto the bed, "I'm in."

"As am I," George said throwing in his own galleon, "Now Ronnie what do you think? Are you going to play blind or are you going to have a look at what you've got and fold like the girl we know and love?"

Fred picked up Ron's cards so he couldn't see them and fanned them before his little brother's closed eyes.

"You wanna see? Then crack that eyelid just a little and there they are little bro," Fred waited, "No? Brave men play blind Ron, are you one of them?"

George leaned in close to Ron while Fred put the cards face down on Ron's chest again.

"Okay then," George said, "If you want to stay in then lie perfectly still and do nothing, if you want to fold sit bolt upright and sing Weasley is our king in sign language."

Fred chuckled.

"Anything but a singing Weasley please!" he pleaded with his unconscious brother.

They waited for a few seconds.

"And he's in!" George declared with jubilation.

"We are going to take you to the cleaners little brother," Fred said as he looked at his own cards again.

* * *

DAY TWENTY

Neville bounded into the room with Healer Kalra following closely behind him and Harry practically fell over himself getting out of their way while Hermione remained sleeping in the uncomfortable chair at Ron's bedside.

"I know we overlooked that whole business Healer Kalra I know it!" Neville was saying fiercely as he paused at Ron's bedside and withdrew his wand.

"How is more damage a good thing Longbottom?" Kalra said fearfully as he too took out his wand and pointed it at Ron's head.

"Sometime illnesses have to happen to build up the immunity, you taught me that yourself didn't you?"

"Yes but this isn't an illness it's..."

"And some signs are warnings to stop while others happen to let you know you're moving in the right direction?" Neville said again, his nerve seeming to falter as he faced off with his teacher.

"That is also true but we don't know enough about either of this boy's conditions to make this sort of leap just yet."

"We do know that while healing one the other reacted. How does that happen when we were treating a brain injury, explain that?" Neville said, getting his second wind.

Hermione stirred in her seat but didn't wake. Kalra lowered his voice and gripped his wand tightly.

"Well you said yourself that despite being unrelated and completely exterior that we are in fact dealing with _two_ brain injuries aren't we?" the healer said.

Neville smiled and nodded. They appeared to be on the same page as each other now.

"Ron's got two brains?" Harry found himself saying aloud and very stupidly.

"No Harry," Neville said without looking away from Healer Kalra, "Ron's got one internal brain injury and one external _brain_ injury."

Harry looked at Ron's arms and shook with hope.

"So you know how to fix them both, now that you know you're dealing with two?" he said shakily.

"Mr Longbottom and I will continue to research this and complete out healing process on Mr Weasley here but for now we'll make do with waking him up shall we?" Healer Kalra said with a smile to Neville.

"Let's do that," Neville nodded while beaming like Harry had never seen him do so before.


	7. Running Before You Can Walk

**Running Before You Can Walk**

The brilliant white swirl of light around Ron's head flashed before dissipating and Harry felt himself shudder as he realised that all the grey patches he had seen every other time Neville and Kalra had attempted this spell had been drained away leaving a pure clean mist evaporating away around his best friend's mind.

Harry took a step closer as Neville and Kalra shared a hopeful glance between the two of them. Hermione stirred in her chair, disturbed by the intense flash of light no doubt, and her eyes reluctantly cracked open.

"What's going on?" she mumbled to Harry with a yawn before seeing Healer Kalra standing on the other side of the bed smiling at her and she sat up straight and wiped her eyes, "Oh sorry sir, I'm off duty and..."

"It's alright Miss Granger. Mr Longbottom and I were just here to work on Ron again," the healer smiled.

Harry moved around behind Hermione to grip her shoulders firmly from behind while he stared at Ron's still vacant face nervously.

"Did you come to try another spell then?" Hermione said sadly.

Neville swallowed and looked to Kalra who beamed at gave him a nod.

"You do it Mr Longbottom," he said quietly.

Neville cleared his throat and swished his wand at Ron.

"_Ennervate!"_

The revival spell hit Ron in the face and Harry gripped Hermione's shoulders so tightly he was amazed she didn't cry out in pain. He knew why she hadn't made a sound though; she was in shock. They watched as Ron's breathing became uneven and he scrunched up his face a little as he rolled over in the bed and got comfortable before dropping back off to sleep.

Neville fell into a chair that Kalra had just conjured behind him and looked at his wand, which was shaking in his hand, before putting his hand to his face and whispering something that sounded like an exclamation of relief to himself. Hermione took one of Ron's hands in hers and spoke in a timid little voice.

"Ron? Are you awake Ron?"

Harry's heart beat faster then he thought was healthy as he saw Ron's fingers curl and tighten around Hermione's very briefly before going slack again.

"Oh my God!" Hermione gasped as he eyes welled with tears.

"It's alright Miss Granger," Kalra said with a warm smile, "he's going to be exhausted for a while so let him sleep a little alright?"

Hermione nodded excitedly while still holding on to Ron's hand for dear life.

"I should," Harry began to say but his vocal chords seemed to be on strike, he cleared his throat and tried again, "I should contact his family."

"I'll do that Mr Potter, you stay with your friends," Healer Kalra said as he summoned Harry's chair from it's position on the other side of the room and guided it over to him until it bumped him gently on the back of the knees, knocking him into it so he was now sitting beside Hermione.

"Healer Kalra," Hermione called after the departing wizard shakily, "thank you so much for not giving up on him."

The man smiled a wonderful white smile through his jet black beard and gestured towards Neville.

"Don't thank me, thank Mr Longbottom there, he worked it all out and convinced me which way we had to go."

The healer stepped out and closed the door behind him while Hermione looked across Ron's bed at Neville and sniffed.

"Thank you so much," Hermione whispered.

Neville shook himself out of his state of relieved shock enough to smile at her and heave a weightily sigh before running his hand through his hair as if he had just finished a rigorous potions exam.

"Yeah mate," Harry said hoarsely, "I owe you. For the rest of my life I owe you okay?"

"Don't be silly," Neville mumbled as he blushed slightly.

"I'm bloody serious mate," Harry said with a slightly stronger voice now, "Whatever you need any time for any reason I'm there for you okay? They told us he was gone. They told us that was it and if it wasn't for you he..."

"Harry don't," Hermione squeaked.

Harry put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her while still staring at Neville intensely. He smiled at the trainee healer and Neville nodded back at him before looking at Ron.

"He's my friend too y'know?" Neville said quietly before getting up and walking over to the door.

"Where are you going?" Harry called after him.

"My shift's not over for three more hours," Neville smiled over his shoulder, "I've got patients to see."

Harry watched the tired looking boy step outside and close the door after him as quietly as he could.

"They're lucky to have you mate," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

Over the course of the next few hours Weasleys came and went, all hugging each other and Harry and Hermione before practically falling to their knees in worship of Neville and Healer Kalra whenever they came in to check on Ron's status.

Ron himself was still very weak and very tired. Every once in a while he would open his eyes a little and smile a hint of a smile at whomever his eyes first focused upon before drifting off into another deep sleep again. When Ron had opened his eyes the last time and seen his mother burst into tears with joy at the sight of his twinkling blue eyes blinking into focus in her direction he had moved his lips and tried to ask what was wrong before making a sighing sound and sleeping again.

"He forgot he couldn't talk again didn't he?" Fred said with a sad smile.

"Yeah," Harry nodded as he reciprocated the hug Ginny was giving him.

Ginny would reach for him every time Ron came back into consciousness, her desperate need to be physically reassured as well as emotionally that her brother had come back to them for real, and Hermione was finally letting all that bravery and optimism she had built up inside her crumble away now that she knew she'd got her wish at last. Now she could worry and weep and almost disappear into Charlie's strong arms as he hugged her and tried to calm her down.

Ron hadn't been active enough to take any water just yet so the re-hydration spells had to be administered again. Soon the family dispersed and made their promises to the sleeping Ron that they'd come back and see him tomorrow. Mrs Weasley planted a big wet kiss on his forehead just before she left with her husband; they were the last two, other then Harry and Hermione, to leave Ron's side, and Ron gave a tiny wave with his right hand while still seeming to be asleep.

Ron's muscles hadn't been used for three weeks now and he was going to regain his strength very slowly so Hermione informed Harry. It was early in the evening when Ron made Hermione almost jump out of her chair and hit the ceiling when he lifted his hand lazily and pointed at his eye and then to Hermione before giving her a half hearted thumbs up and smiling. His eyes were already falling closed when she laughed and wiped her eyes.

"It's good to see you too," she said before lifting his hand and kissing the back of it.

Ron seemed to force his eyes open again with considerable effort and moved his free hand in a downward motion.

"Yeah Ron," Harry quickly interjected while Hermione wiped her eyes again and let out a weary giggle, "we understand you're tired mate, there's no hurry okay? You get some rest and we'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

Ron smiled as his eyes closed again but they just seemed to be blinking very slowly rather then falling heavily into sleep. He shook his head and pointed idly at his two friends.

"Us?" Hermione chuckled.

Ron nodded.

"Well yeah we're tired too," she nodded, "but it's okay. We're staying."

Ron seemed to take a couple of deep breaths in and out before setting his face into a half hearted look of determination and shuffling his body over to one side of the bed.

"Ron no," Harry said fearfully, "don't try to get up just yet."

But Ron wasn't trying to get up, he was trying to move over, his arms were still like lead it seemed and it was hard work but he almost managed it. He stifled a deep yawn and patted the small space at his side he had created while looking at Hermione through half closed eyes. Harry smiled and Hermione settled down as best she could at Ron's side and pulled him into her so his head nestled upon her chest and both her arms curled around him. Harry reached over for the spare blanket Hermione had been using and draped it over her. She smiled at Harry gratefully and he took his seat again without a word.

Hermione lay with Ron in silence for a while before she whispered to him.

"Do you remember me doing this the other night as well?"

Harry saw the almost undetectable shake of Ron's head.

"Did you hear any of us talking to you all that time?" she asked again.

Once again Ron shook his head just a little.

"It doesn't matter Hermione sighed, we were all doing it for ourselves anyway."

* * *

Harry sat in nurse Stour's office and filled her in on Ron's status.

"I'm so relieved Harry," she said with a long exhalation as she sat back in her swivel chair, "I kept thinking it was all my fault for letting him come back to work when all those tests didn't manage to find the cause of his collapses."

"Join the club," Harry said with a rueful shake of the head.

Ron had been staying awake for longer periods recently and he and Hermione were working on building up his muscles again. His flexibility had still been pretty good due to the fact that Hermione was bending and flexing his arms and legs while he was unconscious all that time. He wanted to go home but Neville and Healer Kalra wouldn't hear any of it. Mrs Weasley had even mounted a campaign to get Ron living back at the Burrow but Ron dug his heels in and declared that he'd rather remain at the hospital then take a backwards step back to his childhood home.

His mum had put on a brave face about it but it really hurt her not to be able to coddle him the way she wanted to.

"So Ron was asking after Jess. I wondered how she was doing."

"She's fine," Stour nodded, "the visions are still coming hard and fast, still the same thing. It's Ron she's seeing isn't it?"

Harry looked away and nodded.

"So she's seeing him being killed and she's just put him into a coma with the touch of her hand..."

"On his arm," Harry interjected, "it's only when she touches the scars on his arm. I don't think this is Jess' fault. I think her seer abilities activate something in Ron's scar tissue that ends up hurting Ron."

"Well all the same Ron was fainting when Jess wasn't anywhere near him wasn't he?"

"Yeah but Ron's brother Percy thinks that the magic you've been so sure Ron was carrying in him is in his scars. The collapses were probably down to the sapper draining something from his wounds. They're mind injuries even though they're on his arms y'see nurse Stour and..."

"That's _two_ reasons for Ron not to return to work here when he finally recovers," she said glumly, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to lay you both off Harry. I can't risk my therapist's life like this."

Harry lowered his head and nodded.

"Ron's healer team told me to tell you the same thing. He can't come back, he knows, they told him. They didn't cure this whole problem with the scars; they only drew him out of the coma. I can't say when exactly he'll get better, if ever. I haven't even been able to tell his family the whole story about that message he wrote yet."

Nurse Stour got up and walked around her desk. She crouched before Harry and gave him a brief hug before staring purposefully in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Harry, I know you've both been through so much, and it's such a shame because you were making such a difference to these patients. Would you believe that Jess herself, terrified of the magical world and vowing never to return to it again, tried to walk out of here to visit Ron at St Mungo's when she heard the prognosis that he'd never wake up?"

Harry's eyebrows lifted so high that he thought they'd never come down again.

"She did?"

Stour nodded with a sad smile.

"She might actually be able to be around magic one day and before you two came here I'd never have been able to suggest it to her. Be sure to tell Ron that when you see him won't you?"

Harry nodded.

"Would it be okay if I went and said goodbye to Jess nurse Stour?" he asked.

"Of course, she's been frantic with worry, I'm sure she'd love to hear about Ron's improvement."

* * *

Hermione wandered into Ron's room with a packed lunch for both of them and froze with sheer pleasure at the sight of her boyfriend sitting up in his bed with the headphones on, flicking through a quiddich magazine and sniggering silently to himself about something in the article he was reading.

She shook herself out of it and marched across the room to sit at the foot of his bed and set the lunches down between them. Ron smiled at her and closed the magazine. He lifted the headphones off his head and she caught a brief snippet of North London Ska music before he switched off the CD player.

"Listening to Madness are you?" she grinned.

Ron nodded as he tidied the clutter off his bed so Hermione could spread the lunch things before them. He pointed at the CD case and gestured to himself before holding both thumbs up and rotating them around each other in tight circles.

"They're your favourite? You mean you've played them all?" she said with surprise as she fanned through the selection of CDs she had brought him what felt like years ago.

Ron shrugged and twirled his fingers before pointing them at himself and gesturing to the room around him.

"Yeah, I know, there really isn't a hell of a lot else to do in this place all day long is there?"

Ron stared at her and blinked. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. He tapped his thumb to the side of his head and pointed at her before pointing to his wrist and spinning his finger in circles over and over again.

"You know I was here for hours because somebody told you or because you remember yourself?" she asked, knowing that Ron's memory of his entire time unconscious was blank and staying blank.

Ron looked at her sternly and tapped the side of his head with his thumb again and pointed directly into Hermione's chest, right where her heart would be. She felt like grabbing him and snogging him back into a comatose state but she held back, he was still very fragile despite his cocky demeanour these days.

"Yes well, let's eat shall we? It's my only chance before my shift ends at eight o'clock tonight."

Ron smiled as he looked away from her and picked up the cool bottle of pumpkin juice and tried not to let her see him struggling to twist the cap off. His strength was improving every day but exertion really did wear him down fast.

"Maybe you should get your head down for a few hours while I'm gone?" she suggested before she took a bite from her sandwich.

Ron scoffed at this suggestion as the lid finally came loose and he took a tiny sip from the bottle. He pointed at himself and motioned upwards with both hands.

"I know you've only just managed to sit up," Hermione chuckled, "but don't push yourself too hard with this Ron. It's okay to take a rest when you need it."

Ron put his thumb and forefinger to his eye and pinched them in a closing motion before gesturing over his shoulder.

"You promise?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

Ron rolled his eyes and drew a cross over his heart. Hermione laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. She still got shivers every time she kissed him and felt him kissing her back. As they parted Ron picked up the cheese croissant in front of him and began picking at it. His appetite was just as dominant as it ever was but it took almost no food whatsoever to fill him up at the moment. When he first stared eating for himself again he would only have a couple of bowls of soup per day, then he moved on to something more substantial but only once a day. Now he was taking three very small meals a day so he was definitely doing a lot better.

On the hydration side of things he was drinking like a fish but not in the massive gulps he normally did. His throat was still a little out of practice with swallowing big mouthfuls. Hermione watched as Ron took a further three small sips from his bottle and put it to one side. By the end of the lunch hour he'd have polished it off completely.

Ron held both hands in front of his stomach before pointing at Hermione and then tapping two fingers onto his open palm.

"Well we're working on Neville's specialty today and you wouldn't believe who they've given us as our brain trauma project?"

Ron shrugged and popped another small portion of croissant into his mouth.

"Lockheart," Hermione said with great annoyance.

Ron nearly choked.

"Oh my God Ron," Hermione yelped as she slapped him hard on the back while Ron forced the pastry down and cleared his throat with a series of coughs, "It's not that funny!"

Ron pounded on his chest and took a deep breath before shaking his flushed head and smiling with great mirth. He pointed at himself and brought his fingers together.

"No you cannot come with me!"

* * *

Jess had her arms around Harry as soon as he walked into her room so fast he had to wonder if she had regained her sight.

"Oh Harry I've been so worried, he mustn't ever come back here, you tell him from me. Don't ever let him come back here you hear?"

"Whoa Jess, calm down this wasn't your fault," Harry said as he patted her on the back.

"No you don't understand Harry, I know he's the one, he's the one in my visions isn't he?"

"We don't know that Jess."

"_I_ know it!" she screamed into his face before letting him guide her backwards into a chair, "And I've seen more Harry. I've seen that woman burning him and I've seen the blood and the lightning and now I'm seeing a man with dark hair and scruffy stubble hurting him too. I described it to a patient and he said it sounded exactly like the sapper. The magic sapper Harry!"

Harry was stunned into silence at this revelation. Harry had felt sure that the sapper was nothing but a moody sod that seemed to know that his gift-cum-curse was harming Ron so did all he could to stay away from him. Now Jess and her visions were saying he was involved somehow?

"The sapper puts his hands on Ron and it's like my head is screaming Harry. You can't ever let Ron near him, promise me," Jess demanded.

"I promise Jess, I swear to you he won't be coming back here again okay? He's still... He's not ever coming back here again so don't worry."

Harry winced as he realised that Jess had picked up on Harry stumble.

"He's still what Harry?" she said nervously.

"He's still recovering, that's all."

"Harry you sound all wrong what is it? What's the matter with him you said he was better now?"

"He was, he _is_," Harry stammered, "he woke up and he's getting his strength back and he'll be able to go home soon."

"You're keeping something from me aren't you?"

"His head, his brain is still messed up and we're not really sure how to fix it just yet so Ron's going to have to see the healers most days until they figure out a way to...to..." Harry didn't even know what everybody was trying to do.

"Take the weight off his mind?" Jess completed his sentence for him.

* * *

It was ten minutes past eight when Hermione opened Ron's door and peeped inside. Percy was putting on his cloak and Ron was curled up in a tight ball sleeping, literally, like a baby. She smiled and let the door swing closed behind her. As it clicked Percy jumped and clasped his chest dramatically.

"Oh Hermione you made me jump," he puffed while stooping to pick up his briefcase, "I was just heading home."

"Sorry," she smiled as she approached Ron's bed, "How's he been?"

"Talkative," Percy smiled, he's been letting me sign back to him, I'm working for a deaf minister now as his official translator, I just got security clearance so I can hear all the top secret stuff he hears...well, you know what I mean?"

Hermione laughed and patted Percy's arm.

"I know what you mean. Congratulations Percy, that's great."

"Well," Percy shrugged modestly, "talking with Ron just helps me stay on the ball."

"And that's the only reason you like talking to him is it?" Hermione said with a degree of sarcasm.

Percy smiled and then adopted his most haughty expression.

"He had a visit from the mediwitch to go through his strengthening exercises, he did really well but it wore him out. He's been sleeping for an hour now."

"Can't sign when he's sleeping can he? And yet you're still here Percy," she teased.

"Yes I am," Percy said with a barely concealed smile before giving Hermione a formal nod and heading out the door, "Goodnight Hermione. Don't steal all the covers will you?"

Hermione's jaw dropped open and she glared at the closing door in shock. She staggered over to Ron's bed, still in a state of shock, and noticed that his lips were curling mischievously.

"Were you listening to that?" she demanded of her 'allegedly' sleeping boyfriend.

Ron's eyes were still closed and he was still snuggled in his content sleeping position but his head gave a single nod.

"Well I'll just go then shall I?" she said as she folded her arms.

Ron's eyes opened a little and he lazily moved his hands in front of his stomach before signing the letter L.

"He's still as dappy as ever. I have about a dozen of his autographs if you want one?"

Ron's eyes closed again and shook his head while putting his hand to him chin and moving it away. Hermione perched on the edge of the bed and stroked Ron's hair contentedly. Ron pulled the fingers of both hands away from each other and pointed at Hermione before moving his head to kiss her hand softly.

"I missed you too."

She shuffled herself onto the bed and the two of them curled into each other. She kept stroking his hair idly while listening to him breathe slowly and evenly.

"So how was physical therapy today?" she whispered.

Ron didn't answer. He was asleep already. Hermione smiled and closed her own eyes.

* * *

"Mr Weasley I really don't think you're ready to go home just yet," healer Kalra was saying in a state of semi panic as he watched Ron gathering up all his things and stuffing them into a plastic bag.

"Listen Ron I know you're feeling better now and you're much stronger and everything but your head is still in the same state as it was before all this happened and we've got to keep an eye on you," Neville tried to explain the situation as best he could without infuriating Ron too much.

Ron put his hand on his chest with his fingers splayed wide and a look of great disgust before moving his palm away and gesturing around the room with it.

"I hate it here," Harry translated glumly.

Ron pointed his hands into himself before pointing upwards with his index finger while the other hand crossed over it from front to back. Then he gestured towards himself again, put his little finger to his chin and pulled it away sharply before moving his hand in front of his exasperated face and jerking it away from his head and stomping away to pull on his jacket.

"I'm lonely and I'm bored out of my damn skull," Harry said as he rushed over to Ron to try and talk him out of checking out prematurely.

Ron shook off Harry's hand as soon as it tried to pull him around to face him.

"Ron please, I know you're not trying to make things worse for yourself. I know that you'll rest just as well at home as you would here and I know I'll be there the whole time to look after you but you're not on the mend Ron. You shouldn't confuse feeling better with actually _being_ better!"

Ron turned on his best friend and looked irate. He held both hands before his stomach before rubbing them together and moving his hand away from ahead of him. He put his wrists together and jerked them downwards before gesturing wildly around him at the walls of his room.

Harry looked down at him feet; there was no answer to that question.

"What was that?" Healer Kalra asked Neville and Hermione.

"How can I be happy with a future stuck in here?" Hermione translated sadly.

"Look Ron," Neville began as he stepped in to take over the pleading friend duties on Harry's behalf, "I know you're frustrated to be doing nothing and I know that you're also annoyed that you're out of a job because of this problem but how will making the problem worse make you feel any better?"

Ron pointed at himself and stroked his upper arm with his little finger before pointing at himself between the eyes. Then he put his hand to his chin and moved it away followed by tapping the side of his head with his thumb. Neville seemed devastated by this and Harry looked on the verge of throwing up. Ron pushed between them both and found his way blocked by Hermione who folded her arms and seethed with rage and hurt.

"Don't you ever say something like that again Ronald Weasley," Hermione growled, "You are _not_ weak minded, you are suffering from a magical brain trauma and everybody in this room is trying to give you some relief from that.

Ron averted his eyes from her and she grabbed his chin forcefully and made him look at her.

"You're the lucky one Ron. You got to sleep through those three weeks but we didn't and it was awful!" Hermione's resolve began to give way to her emotions.

Ron's head dropped and his shoulders slumped as he rubbed his knuckles against his chest before twirling his finger at the side of his head and kicking the bedpost with his foot in annoyance.

"I know Ron," Hermione said, much softer this time as she hugged him to her, "I know you feel like you're going insane but I don't want you running before you can walk as far as this is concerned alright?"

Ron broke away from Hermione and heaved a deep sigh before looking at her with pleading eyes and gesturing through the window and then making a triangular shape with both hands.

"I want you to come home too Ron," Harry said as he got his second wind, "but not before you're ready."

"Harry's right," Hermione said as she put her hand upon Ron's cheek, "Neville didn't go to all that effort finding a way to wake you up just so you could get right back to damaging yourself again."

Ron almost choked on his own incredulity as he backed away from Hermione and waved his arms outwards before pounding them into his chest.

"No one's saying this is your fault!" Hermione huffed.

Ron didn't seem able to look at any one of them as he slumped down on to his bed and rested his elbows upon his knees while he stared at the floor. Hermione's desperate gaze fell upon Harry who took a deep breath and stepped up for his next round with Ron. he crouched down before his troubled friend and tried to get him to meet his eyes.

"Ron I want you home too. I want that great new life we were building for ourselves back just as much as you do, more so even because the fact that you don't have it is all my fault," Ron's head finally lifted and he glared at Harry, "Yes it is Ron! The thing is we can get another job. We can get another chance at that life when you're better and you're not are you?"

Ron pointed at himself desperately and rubbed his hands together as if he were warming them in front of a fire.

"That's the problem Ron," Harry said sadly, "you're not as good as you feel. It's just waiting to hurt you again."

Harry saw something that both relieved him and destroyed him at the same time. He saw Ron give up. Neville saw it too and walked back over to Healer Kalra without a single word and tugged him by the sleeve of his robes outside. Ron stood up and made a halfhearted gesture with his arm before walking his fingers along his palm and fanning his face.

"Yeah I think fresh air will do you good. D'you want me to come with you?" Harry smiled.

Ron shook his head and strode over to the door without a sideways glance at Hermione.

"Ron I'm sorry," she whimpered as he reached the door and turned the handle.

Ron looked back at her and raised his eyebrows. He let go of the doorknob to tap his fingers on his open palm and then close and open his fist as if letting something go. He then made a pinching motion away from his throat patting himself on the chest and stroking the underside of his chin with the back of his hand.

As Hermione's single sob cut through the tense silence Ron flung the door open, stepped through and slammed it behind him with such ferocity Harry could've sworn he heard the wood splinter.

"At least he's strong enough to slam doors again eh?" Harry said with laboured optimism as Hermione turned and ran into his arms.

"We've got to find out what's doing this to him Harry before it crushes his spirit."

Harry hugged his trembling friend and cursed the temperament of fiery redheads. He closed his eyes and replayed Ron's parting words in his mind.

_What price is freedom? I wish I could afford it._

How can such an independent mind do this to itself he wondered? Harry whispered into Hermione's bushy hair.

"We'll find a way to give him his life back, I promise."


	8. Torn Between Two Worlds

**Torn Between Two Worlds**

Ron was taking one of his afternoon strolls around St Mungo's grounds when he thought he recognised the profile of a witch entering through the staff only doors. He frowned to himself and followed her through as quietly as he could.

He still couldn't get a good look at the witches' face but something about the shape of her and the formidable warmth and authoritative dominance of her voice let him know that it was indeed the person he thought she was. Nurse Stour was visiting St Mungo's.

Ron felt in his pockets for his notepad but he'd left it in his room. The witch still wasn't well versed in sign language and he wouldn't be able to ask after Jess and his other old patients any other way. He shrugged and thought that he could at least say hello to her and mime some semblance of a conversation with her now that she was at arms length. He reached out to tap her on the shoulder when he froze on hearing what she was saying to the healer she had just been introduced to.

"...missing since late last night and never emerged from the wards against magic use as far as we can tell. A blind girl with her history out there all alone, it's just too much to even imagine what's going through her mind."

Ron's throat did something that would, in the old days, have made a sound to give him away but his exclamation caused nothing more than a short escape of breath. Nurse Stour and the healer were walking onward now and Ron hurried after them to keep on listening in, somewhat camouflaged by the hustle and bustle of medi witches and wizards escorting patents two and fro all over the place.

"So what makes you think she would be heading here if she did get out of the wards to disparate then nurse Stour?" the healer said.

"Well you've a patient here, Ronald Weasley, a former employee of mine at the clinic. He used to work with Jess very closely until he became to ill to continue, well to be honest Jess was something of a catalyst to his illness and the poor boy was in a magical coma here for almost a whole month."

"Oh my word you're talking about the miracle mute aren't you?" the healer exclaimed as they stopped in the corridor and stood face to face.

The miracle mute? Was _that_ his nickname?

"I beg your pardon?" Stour frowned.

"Oh yes Weasley of course, he's the cat with nine lives isn't he, so many lucky escapes. Well do you call him lucky or cursed, I don't really know do you?"

"Well I call him a decent young man who gave a lot to my patients and who made himself critically ill in the process," nurse Stour said in a clipped tone.

"Oh my dear nurse Stour I meant nothing derogatory by that, not at all, it's just that his prognosis when he first came in here was dire. All we could really think to do was offer our condolences to the family but one of our consultants, Kalra, and his little prodigy in mind damage wouldn't give it up and bless my soul if they didn't get that boy to wake up!"

"Kalra you say?" Stour said thoughtfully.

"Yes, genius from Delhi, well actually from Swindon but his father came over from India just before he was born with him and he was a highly respected healer over there."

"I thought I recognised the name," Stour nodded before the two of them set off down the corridor again.

Ron pushed past some trainee healers going through their St Mungo's orientation and followed them as closely as he could without being seen.

"So you think this blind seer is on her way to St Mungo's to visit our mute miracle eh?"

Ron rolled his eyes; he wished he wouldn't keep calling him that.

"Well she was having some quite unpleasant visions of him in some kind of trouble and the night she went missing she had the worst one yet. I think she feels he is in some kind of danger and needs to come and warn him. I don't know exactly," Stour said with a shake of the head, "all I do know is that this is where she wants to get to or contact so I'd really need to speak to Ron's healer if I can."

"Of course, follow me, he'll be on rounds with his students," the healer said as he guided Stour into a lift and Ron stopped his pursuit of them.

Ron let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the wall behind him with his eyes closed to try and take in all this information. Jess was missing and she was missing because of him. He had to do something about this. He knew what Kalra would do. He would put Ron on a secure ward so Jess wouldn't be able to find him even if she made it to St Mungo's and he'd be restricted to it, no more walks to clear his head, no more Sunday afternoons at the Burrow for an hour with Hermione as a chaperone and on-call healer in one. He'd be confined all over again and he wasn't going to stand for it.

"Are you Ron Weasley?" a small boy of about seven asked as he gaped up at Ron, who opened his eyes and jumped to see the mousy haired kid.

Not really knowing how this child knew who he was he smiled a confused smile and gave him a wave hello.

"Stewart leave the poor man alone!" the boy's mother said as she grabbed the child's arm and yanked him away before looking at Ron's scar and then into Ron's eyes sadly, "I'm so sorry, he didn't mean to stare."

Ron arched an eyebrow and gestured down at the boy with a smile and shook his head before pointing at the woman and nodding very disapprovingly. The woman flushed and straightened up.

"I'm awfully sorry Mr Weasley but I don't understand."

The little boy Stewart understood perfectly and giggled.

"I did," he said happily, "he said I didn't stare at him, _you_ did!"

"Stewart shut up!" his mother hissed before dragging her son away and disappearing into the crowd.

Ron laughed at this briefly before remembering that he had more pressing things on his mind. He also noticed exactly how busy this place opposite the lifts was. He looked around himself and realised he was only feet away from the main exit into Diagon Alley. He could just walk out the door if he wanted to. Ron felt in his pockets again, not for his pad this time but for his wand, and found what he needed. He smiled and tried to block out the voices of Harry, Hermione and Neville telling him all the reasons not to do something as stupid as this and headed for the door.

* * *

Hermione shoved the empty headed Lockheart back into his chair and grabbed both sides of his face to force him to look at her.

"Listen to me and stop trying to drag innocent bystanders into the ward to give them autographs for goodness sake!" she snapped impatiently.

She was at the end of her tether. Healer Kalra had dragged Neville from the closed ward in a state of total bewilderment and she had been left alone to assess just how insufficient their latest memory restoring charm had been.

"Oh I'm sorry my dear. Jealous are you? Not giving you my full attention am I? I'm just so popular these days. Young witches coming in day after day to see me, they'll have to start booking appointments soon won't they?" the bemused wizard said with a dreamy look on his face.

"It's not a string of young witches Mr Lockheart," Hermione sighed, "It's me every time."

The door banged open and Neville hurried in and grabbed Hermione by the elbow, dragging her out into the corridor with him.

"Neville what the...?" she began but stalled when she saw, first Healer Kalra's sombre expression and then nurse Stour's, "Oh Godric what's happened to him now?"

* * *

Harry apparated to the magical, non-magical, border and checked his wand in with the security wizard.

"I don't suppose you saw my friend here a little while ago did you Kev?" Harry asked the man he'd seen during his various comings and goings to the clinic over the weeks.

"Yeah, on his own too which surprised me," Kev nodded with a shrug, "You don't have any other magical devices on you do you?"

"No," Harry said as he scanned the countryside for a red head and saw absolutely nothing.

"Very well, pass through the barrier and enjoy your time in the magic free zone," Kev said as if he was utterly bored of saying the same words over and over again day after day.

Harry moved through the barrier and no alarms sounded, proving he was clean magic-wise, and set off at a jog to find his stubborn and completely stupid best friend.

"Ron!" he shouted after a while, pausing to catch his breath, "Ron, send up..." Harry realised that Ron couldn't send up sparks without a wand, "...never mind just..." Harry kicked out at a nearby tree when he realised that Ron couldn't exactly call out to him.

How on earth was he going to find a mute who didn't want to be found without magic he asked himself?

* * *

Ron's head was pounding and he knew that she had to be close by. He also knew that if this migraine got any worse he'd probably be violently sick.

"Ron!"

He stood rigid and listened. Had he just imagined that? There was a sudden diamond splinter of pain that sliced right between his eyes and deep into his head as he heard a second voice calling his name.

"Ron!"

One was Harry, he recognised that fearful yell anywhere and the other, he was pretty sure, had to be Jess and the two voices seemed to be coming from two opposite directions. Ron felt dizzy and his head seemed to be trying to split in two as he reached out to steady himself against a nearby tree.

"Harry was that you? Are you there? Where are you both?" Jess was screaming now.

"Jess?" Harry's voice was roaring, the echo made Ron's brain vibrate inside his skull.

He picked up a large stick from the ground and gritted his teeth as he swung it back, this was going to really do his head in but it had to be done all the same, and began to beat it against a thick tree trunk repeatedly.

* * *

Harry could hear Jess asking after Ron, which meant he hadn't found her, and the three of them were still separated in this vast countryside. He was just cupping his hand to his mouth to holler back at Jess to come out into the open when he remembered that she wouldn't have a clue what was open space and what was covered woodland. Just as his hands dropped away from his face despairingly he heard a sound similar to a beaters bat slamming into a bludger over and over again.

"Ron?" he said to himself as he looked into the wooded area at the bottom of the small valley ahead of him, "Ron!" he yelled.

The banging stopped and then one solitary bang sounded. Harry looked to the clouded sky and said a silent thank you.

"Is there any reason you can't come out from the cover of the woods?" Harry called out and listened intently for the response.

There were two bangs and Harry ran down into the valley without another word. He scanned the edge of the woods for Ron's vivid red hair as he panted and cursed himself for not staying in shape while he was hanging around the hospital worrying about Ron.

"No!" Jess was screaming as he drew nearer to the woods and his muscles began to burn with the sudden exertion or his sprint, "You have to hide from them. You can't let them find you!"

Harry was about to start worrying about what Jess was talking about when he heard a whistle just behind him and he spun around so fast that he fell over backwards with the momentum and slammed down onto the grass with a heavy thud that he knew would leave him with a very bruise backside. Ron was trying to smile with amusement at this but he was holding one hand to his head and rubbing it firmly as if trying to massage something out and to the surface.

"Shit Ron your head," Harry said as he scrambled back up to his feet and stomped over to his best friend in a rage, "How could you be so stupid you moron?"

Ron's hand dropped and he stared at Harry as if he thought his friend was being overly harsh with him but Harry was having none of it and began to punctuate every word he said with a whack to Ron's shoulder that made him wince and cower at the same time.

"You stupid, stupid, wanker!"

Ron took a step out of Harry's reach before touching his little finger to his chin and moving it away sharply and sliding his palm across the other.

"Well you deserve it!" Harry yelled as he tried to contain his display of relieved rage before taking another step towards Ron and putting his hand to his head while looking into his clear blue eyes, "Is it really painful?"

Ron shrugged. Harry set his features into a hard 'no nonsense' expression and Ron rolled his eyes and huffed before nodding and then gesturing out across the countryside and signing the letter 'J' desperately.

"Yeah right," Harry nodded, "Well find Jess and then I'll beat the crap out of you. I think her voice was coming from somewhere over..." Harry was pointing into the middle distance over to his right when he felt Ron's fingers curling around his arm so tightly that he almost cried out in pain, "Ron what's that matter with you?"

Ron's eyes were glazed over and his nose was bleeding again. Harry had to get Ron to go back to the magical border and disapparate the hell out of there before he shut down again. Just as Harry was about to pat Ron firmly on the side of the face in an attempt to snap him out of it when a jagged fork of bright yellow lightning burst out of Ron's arms and knocked him off his feet.

As Harry slammed hard onto the ground for the second time in as many minutes he watched in horrified awe as Ron's arms thrust in the direction of Jess' shouts and sent out the lightning bolt which left a lingering trail for them to follow, no doubt leading them via it's yellow glow all the way directly to Jess, and Ron's eyes rolled completely back into his head as the blood flowed from his nostrils as the lightning bolt left him and he fell to his knees.

"What the hell was that Ron? How did you do that without a wand?" Harry said too fast for it to really be articulate.

Ron's eyes rolled back into view and he looked up at Harry as he pulled Ron into his lap and tried to wipe the blood from his face with the sleeve of his jumper. Ron blinked a couple of times before coughing and then focusing on Harry in a state of utter confusion. He twirled both his index fingers around at the side of his head, pointing them upwards towards the ever-darkening sky, and gave a lost shrug.

"You just sent out a spell, a locator spell I think,it was incredible Ron. You just did it with your bare hands," Harry said as he helped Ron sit up and fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief to offer Ron as his nose was still bleeding quite heavily.

Ron seemed to mouth something to himself, the urgency of whatever he had just realised overriding his instinct to sign, and he pulled himself up to his feet and set off after the fading yellow trail of misty light.

* * *

Fred and George had just left Lee Jordan minding the shop and were rushing along Diagon Alley towards the magical entrance to St Mungo's when they passed the small gathering at the junction into Nocturn Alley. The crowd seemed to be deliberately blocking their path and they both pushed their way through with plenty of grumbles and swearing as they went.

They needed to get to their brother's ward to find out what the great emergency was. All they had got out of their mother before her head withdrew from the green flames in their fireplace was that the seer girl was missing and nobody could find Ron anywhere in the hospital.

"Out of the way you fat hooded prat!" George hissed at one particularly large figure standing directly in front of him.

The hooded figure turned and seemed to be looking right at the twins. All either of them could see was the crooked grin showing on the only part of the wizard's face that was illuminated by the setting sun. It made his skin seem almost red.

"Sorry boys, didn't _see_ you," he said before turning away and rejoining the crowd of dark robed figures again.

Fred seemed to freeze, wanting some kind of explanation for that vocal inflection, while George wanted to get out of there right away. As the robed mob began to depart Fred could've sworn he heard that same voice sniggering to another.

"Don't _see_ no evil...don't _speak_ no evil...don't _hear_ no evil...put 'em together and what have you got?"

"Did you hear...?" Fred said with alarm as he began to fight his way back to chase after the mob down Nocturn Alley.

"Fred not now, we've got to find Ron!" George said as he physically dragged his twin brother along with him.

* * *

Harry reached Ron where he was panting, bleeding and trying to reassure Jess that it was indeed him and not whoever it was she was so scared of.

"Jess are you okay?" Harry wheezed while he massaged the stitch in his side with a wince.

"There's somebody out here, I know there is," Jess said frantically, "I've been trying to hide but I don't know exactly what I'm hiding in or if it's good enough or..."

Ron shushed her and started to rub her arm comfortingly but the pain in his head seemed to kick in as soon as he did so Harry bumped him aside and forced the tattered paper napkin he found folded in his back pocket into Ron's hand before taking over comforting duties.

"I haven't seen anybody since I've been out here, Jess it's okay, Ron have you?" Harry turned to see Ron wiping his bloodstained face with the paper napkin.

Ron shook his head before staring at the amount of blood he was cleaning off his own face in shock.

"Don't worry mate I think it's stopping now, just pinch the bridge of your nose for a bit," Harry suggested before looking back at Jess to check her for any injuries she might have sustained since her moonlight flit from the clinic.

Jess seemed to pick up on Ron's physical distress, or maybe it was the heavy smell of fresh blood in the air, but she reached out to Ron to get some kind of assurance that he was doing okay. Just before Jess could touch Ron's arms, which Harry now noticed were quite inflamed around the scarred areas, he took her hand in his own and moved it away from Ron.

"I don't think that's a good idea Jess," Harry mumbled, while avoiding Ron's accusing eyes.

Ron didn't seem to want to face the fact that he was in no fit state to look after Jess by himself while being slightly thankful for Harry presence so he didn't have to suffer the side affects of physical contact with the blind witch.

"Why not?" Jess frowned, looking very lost indeed.

"It hurts him," Harry said sadly and Jess seemed to understand immediately and pull her arms right into her own body.

"I'm sorry Ron," she said shakily, "I'm sorry I hurt you before too. I'm glad you're getting better."

Ron and Harry shared a look that silently agreed not to tell Jess the whole truth about Ron's condition not being healed at all and Harry was about to speak when a distant crack sounded and he stopped with his mouth hanging open like a stunned guppy.

"Was that somebody apparating?" Jess gasped.

"It's not possible, we're within the borders," Harry said as he scanned the horizon.

Ron shrugged before making a gesture from his ear outwards and twirling his fingers.

"Well plenty of things in the magical world make a sound like that but there's only one thing I can think of that would work in here and that's a muggle weapon."

Ron frowned at Harry. They'd never had the gun conversation, they'd never really needed to, and in comparison to wands and curses the handgun was like a Stone Age tool. A Stone Age tool could still be lethal all the same though.

The cracking sound happened again and something grazed Harry's shoulder, making him yell out loud and throw himself flat on his back, and he yelled at the other's to get down. The three of them were flat to the ground and it was almost completely dark now, the sun long down, and Harry knew that staying in the open and in the dark was a death wish.

"Run for cover!" Harry yelled out and reached to take Jess' hand.

He was fumbling for thin air however and cursed as he heard Ron hissing through his teeth. He had obviously grabbed Jess to pull her towards the woods and caused himself a whole lot of pain in doing so. Jess was stumbling, Harry could only see her strangely shaped silhouette as it was hauled along while she held her head and screamed at whomever she was seeing to leave Ron alone. Another crack sounded and Harry flung himself face down onto the grass and hoped that Ron and Jess had done the same.

When he got up again he couldn't see them anywhere. They must've made it to the cover of the woods as if either of them had been hit they'd be on the ground in front of him somewhere. Harry ran as fast as he could. He couldn't call out to them and give away either of their positions. He ran into the woods and through the darkness of the trees.

He didn't even have the dying glow of the sunlight or the rising silver luminance of the moon to guide him and tripped several times before feeling a rough wall of bark slamming him full on in the face. He didn't feel anything after that.


	9. The All Seeing Eye

**The All-Seeing Eye**

Jess stumbled over and hit the forest floor with her hands outstretched and a barely stifled squeal of panic. Twigs snapped beneath her fingers and splinters penetrated her skin. Her knees scraped against something that felt like a long wooden snake she guessed must have been a thick tree root emerging above the ground.

She clawed her way back to her feet and tried to proceed but hundreds of tiny claws began scratching at her face and arms. They slashed and cut and yanked at her hair and the more she tried to bat them away the more they seemed to tear at her. The sound wasn't of any animal though. She backed away the way she had come and yanked her snagged clothing where it was snared. The scratching stopped. She extended her hand hesitantly and felt a bunch of leaves before her fingers slid along a cable like branch and then jerked her hand back again as it was prickled by several thorns.

She made a small growling sound to herself as she realised that she had just run headlong into a thorn bush.

Where was Ron?

* * *

Harry felt his arms in an agonisingly uncomfortable position and tried to move them. That was when he heard laughing and blinked his eyes back into focus to see a darkened room full of hooded figures. They were all crowded around him in a semi circle and one of them, a short frail looking wizard who wasn't wearing his hood up, standing slightly ahead of them all and smiling up at Harry.

"Bet I don't miss you from here boy," he said wickedly as he raised the gun in his hand and pointed it at Harry's chest.

The crowd of what Harry guessed must have been disgruntled Death Eaters sniggered and pulled makeshift weapons from their own robes which they began to wield threateningly.

"Oh I don't know about that," Harry said in a strained voice as he attempted to lower his arms from above him, "for one thing you're holding it the wrong way around!"

The wizard flinched for a moment and turned away from Harry to examine the gun closely before spinning on the young wizard and firing a shot into Harry's shoulder.

"Very funny Potter!" the wizened old man snarled as he cocked the gun again, "I may be ignorant of non magical methods of torture and warfare but that doesn't mean I'm about to turn them on myself quite so easily as you seem to think you can trick me into doing."

Harry wasn't listening to any of this. He was gritting his teeth and pulling at the chains that secured his wrists above his head to the wall behind him. He felt sick and his shoulder burned with pain, numbness and then once again with the slow return of the pain again as the shock of the gunshot subsided.

"Let me show him what a wizard in a magic free zone can do with a rusty hook," one of the Death Eater's said eagerly.

"Fall back!" the ringleader ordered and the Death Eaters murmured their assent, though quite reluctantly.

Harry tried to remember what had happened. He knocked himself out running through the woods in the dark. He had run into a tree and now he was here. His eyes widened with fear. He had been running after Ron and Jess. Quickly Harry scanned the darkened room for the others but couldn't see them anywhere. He wondered if Ron had managed to get Jess into a secure hiding place. He wondered if Ron's head had given out on him again what with the close physical contact he had to make with the seer to keep her safe. Then another sickening thought occurred to Harry. What if the Death Eaters had found Ron in a coma and left him in the woods for dead?

"What's going on?" Harry blurted before he could think about what he was saying, "What do you want from us? Voldemort's dead, is this just about revenge?"

A Death Eater ran forward, swinging a long metal pole behind him and sending it crashing back into Harry's shins. Harry cried out and he lifted his legs, unable to support his own weight on his fractured tibias, which caused his shackles to slice into his wrists and the agony of the bullet in his shoulder to torment him in a whole new way.

"When I say stand back you stand back understand?" the lead Death Eater roared, "too much damage and he'll be no good to us at all. What did we talk about earlier?"

There were several murmurs at the same time, coming from different figures in the semi circle, and Harry would have found the sound of evil wizards sounding like naughty school children quite comical if he wasn't in so much pain right now.

"Not the head under pain of death," was the mumbled response.

"Not the head and do nothing to end the life before we extract what we came for!" the gun toting wizard said with a great deal of annoyance, "I knew I was wrong to involve the dark lord's rejects. All you care about is avenging a long dead master and not thinking clearly about what we can all gain from this."

"Forgive me general, I will not step out of line again," the Death Eater bowed his hooded head low and the 'general' gave a derogatory snort before returning his gaze to Harry.

"We do not need to receive our instructions from one egotistical leader only looking to dominate the power for himself. We can all access the knowledge and the magic, share it between us, and use it to defend Slytherin's ethics. Elimination of the mudbloods, punish the blood traitors and half breeds and keep the muggles in their place."

There was a slight ripple of enthusiasm amongst the ranks at this.

"Free will can achieve the same as servitude to an obsessive dictator and that was what your dark lord was you know? The war was never about righting the balance of magical power and preserving the bloodlines of the few pureblood families that remain. It was about his vendetta against a little boy who bruised his colossal ego. He was as bad as the others. He sent purebloods to their death as if they were expendable in his quest and that stops here!" the wizard roared.

Harry forced himself to take at least a little of his body weight with his injured legs so as to relieve the strain on his arms. He gave a yelp as he did so and the general turned on him and took a step closer to grin into Harry's pain contorted face.

"You have the secrets of the greatest magical mind in history inside you boy and I want then out," the general whispered, "I don't know how you did it and I don't care. The unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries have been trying to break into Rowena Ravenclaw's mind for centuries before you and your silly little friends stumbled into the brain room where they keep her preserved remains and all of a sudden you can perform a locator spell that hasn't been seen since the dark ages. How did you do that boy?"

Harry felt sick and it wasn't just from his injuries. This lot weren't after Harry at all, this wasn't revenge or prophesy or anything he had guessed but a simple case of mistaken identity, they were after Ron.

"Sod off!" Harry hissed as he tried not to convey the panic he was feeling inside for his best friend.

Ron had been attacked by Ravenclaw's brain. Ravenclaw's thoughts, her mind, had burned into his flesh and left something there. Ron carried magical secrets in his skin and that had been why the sapper could hurt him. That had been why Neville had to treat two brain injuries to bring Ron out of his coma. Neville worked out that the invading thoughts were trying to access Ron's brain and that was why Ron's natural defences had shut down. He had closed the door to his mind to keep her out and by doing so locked himself in.

"You've found a way to channel her spells. Don't deny it, I saw that locator spell in action and I saw where it came from."

Harry had been standing so close to Ron when the yellow lightning bolt emerged from him that from a distance it would have looked as if it was coming from either one of them. Who would a stranger guess had such a power; famous Harry Potter, conqueror of Lord Voldemort, or the great victim of the whole final battle Ron Weasley?

"You're seeing things old man," Harry grimaced as he tried to make himself a little more comfortable, "you might want to borrow my glasses."

The wizard fired the gun downwards into Harry's left foot and he screamed an embarrassingly pathetic scream in agony. He couldn't stop the pained whimpering sound he was making, like an animal caught in a trap and slowly bleeding to death.

"These fools were looking in all the wrong places. Telling me it was three forces into one but I knew it had to be you. I knew you had the power and you do, I saw you using it myself and now you are going to share it with me. You are going to share it with all of us. You set part of Ravenclaw's magic free and now it's only a matter of time before you give it up to us."

Harry closed his eyes and preyed that Ron wasn't heading this way on a rescue mission. He hoped that Ron wasn't hurt or incapacitated again. He knew that he could never let these monsters find out they had the wrong man. He would take this torture for Ron.

He owed him that.

* * *

Jess listened as hard as she could. She kept getting startled by the sounds of nocturnal animals running from tree to tree and at one point something fell on her from above which caused her to give a squeal and fall into a ditch, twisting her ankle quite badly. It turned out to be nothing more than a horse chestnut falling from a tree.

She realised that she was only getting herself in more of a state by blundering around the woods the way she had been so far and set about crawling along the forest floor on her hands and knees. She found it harder to trip and bump into low hanging branches that way. She wondered if it was safe to call out for Harry and Ron. She didn't want to give herself or them away to whoever it was attacking them earlier on. It was getting chilly now and she really didn't want to have to spend another night out here alone.

She had to find them.

Harry and Ron were probably looking for her right now. She decided that the best thing to do was probably to stop moving around and let them come to her so she settled down against the trunk of a nearby tree and drew her knees up to her chest. She hugged her legs as she waited and tried not to cower every time she heard an owl hooting.

"They're not sending messages, they're just hunting for mice," she told herself aloud before flinching and brushing frantically at her arms in a panic, "Oh Godric mice!"

Something made a crunching sound a little way off and she held her breath and listened. It happened again and the there was a banging. Just once but she recognised it. It sounded exactly like the banging noise Ron had made before to get Harry's attention.

"Ron?" Jess tried to call out but her nerves reduced it to nothing more than a whisper.

There were more crunching sounds, snapping twigs and rustling leaves underfoot it sounded like, and Jess tried to stand to make herself visible but hit her head on a branch directly above her and came crashing down with a cry of pain and annoyance at her own limitations in this situation.

The crunching noises stopped and she listened through the tears of pain that were welling in her sightless eyes as she massaged her sore head. There was nothing to be heard for a moment until a loud nearby snapping made her jump and she clasped her hands to her mouth and hoped it wasn't the attacker from earlier. Then there was a thudding sound and what seemed to be a gasp. Jess swallowed and listened for any giveaway noises, there were none. If this was a person then they were very quiet and who was the quietest person Jess knew?

"Ron is that you?" she whispered into the space ahead of her.

There was no banging sound in response. There was also no attack or answer from Harry. Maybe her ears were deceiving her. Maybe there was a fox or something hunting close by and that was what she was listening to so intently. She felt around her for a stone or a pebble and her hands curled around something smooth and flat. She gripped it and threw it in the direction of the sound. She heard the flat stone landing but she didn't hear scurrying paws or any movement amongst the bushes and trees.

A stone being thrown out of nowhere had obviously not shocked whatever she had been listening to.

"Ron, Harry? Please be one of you or both of you or somebody at all," she begged the eerie breeze that wove through the trees and wafted past her face, blowing what felt like a broken cobweb across her skin.

She sputtered and pawed at her face to remove the gossamer threads and then heard what sounded like a sharp intake of breath.

"Ron that's you isn't it?" she said fearfully as she plucked up the courage to crawl over to the source of the sounds she was hearing.

She reached out to feel her way ahead and her fingertips brushed against what felt like bare skin and her head screamed with voices, colours and searing hot pain. She curled up into a tight ball on the ground and tried to ride the vision out of her system as fast as she could.

The vivid colours flashed before her eyes. Loud noises and many voices and screams of pain that weren't hers made her search the vision for the source of the fear and pain she was experiencing. Then she saw him, Harry, he was chained up and bleeding all over. There were shadowy figures all around him and they wanted something from him that he couldn't give. He was letting them think he could though. He was being tortured in the place of another and he was scared for himself and scared about something else even more so.

Jess's eyes opened and the blackness swallowed up the horrific sights and feelings she had just been plunged into. She was crying and shaking and something was warm around her. It was a person; they were holding her and shushing her in a familiar way.

"Ron?" she ventured shakily.

Something tapped her shoulder as he rocked her back and forth to calm her down. She could hear it again, the sharp intake of breath, and she suddenly realised that she was hurting him again. Swiftly she wriggled out of his grip and shoved him away from her.

"Don't touch me Ron!" she ordered, "I'm killing you. You mustn't come anywhere near me."

She bit her lip and wished that Ron could communicate with her by some other means then touch. Then she felt the discomfort of a long thick twig beneath her body and pulled it free before reaching out with it to feel for Ron's body. She felt the twig being taken at it's other end and knew that they had some kind of connection that wasn't physical now and smiled.

"That's it, hold on and tap the stick, tap me with it for yes and no okay?" she sighed.

She felt the stick tap her on the knee once.

"Are you hurt?" she asked immediately afterwards.

Jess felt the pressure of the stick gently resting upon her head before disappearing again.

"You're head again? That's my fault I'm sorry."

The stick tapped her leg twice.

"Yes it is Ron and we both know it," she said firmly, "So I'm guessing we lost Harry as well as each other then seeing as I just saw him in my vision being tortured."

Again a single tap landed on her knee.

"Well I can't see and you can't talk and we're totally lost so I really don't know what we could do to help him."

Jess felt the stick being pushed into her hand and held there.

"Do you want me to hold on to it?" she asked, there was a small tap on the inside of her palm, she gripped the stick hard, "Okay then, I take it you're leading me out of the non-magical zone so we can get some help."

There were two bangs on the stick that was being carried between them. They weren't going for help?

"Ron we can't find Harry ourselves, not like this and we don't know who it was out there who was trying to hurt us. We need to get some help to search for him properly, an Auror rescue team or something. It looked like Death Eaters to me and they were hurting him."

The twig in Jess' hand pulled her forward and she held on to it tightly and followed Ron's lead.

"Ron where are we going?" she asked fearfully.

Ron had no way of answering, not even by touch if he could, and she knew that she just had to trust him. She did trust him, with her own life, just not to look after himself.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen," Mad-Eye Moody addressed the gathering of Order of the Phoenix members who had been summoned to the non-magical border by the Auror, "While Tonks takes the poor security wizard to St Mungo's we will mobilise out search within the magic free parameter."

"Wands or no wands?" Charlie Weasley asked.

"Wands of course you prat!" Fred snapped at his brother.

"You can't take them across the border without getting thrown out and magic turning in on you by way of punishment for the breech," Hermione said with no patience for all this time wasting, "just like that age line of Dumbledore's you two thought you were exempt from."

"Indeed," Moody nodded gruffly, "Magic as powerful as this can not be hood winked and we are going to have to go in there without wands.

"What about your eye Alastor?" Arthur said as he realised the true implications of this magic free battle ground they were about to enter.

"Well that'll have to go too I'm afraid, anything magically enhanced at all so all of you leave your wands and any other artefacts with Molly who will be manning the border."

"I'm going in there for my boys!" Molly Weasley declared with incredulity.

"Mum don't cause trouble and do as you're told!" Bill said sternly, causing his mother to flush with rage but be too dumfounded with shock at being spoken to like that to have any kind of argument to throw back at him.

"Granger and Longbottom," Moody turned on them both, "I want you two out here on the border too."

Hermione was about to protest when Moody glared at her while he still possessed two eyes with which to do so and silenced the two young trainee healers before they uttered their first word.

"We need healers on hand at all times and that means not fighting or searching a badger set somewhere! You both set up a treatment site here understand?" Moody growled as if daring Hermione to argue with him.

"I do sir," Neville said as he put his arm around Hermione and gripped her to him tightly.

"From what I've heard Weasley's going to need medical attention no matter how well or badly this rescue mission goes so I expect you to be on hand and ready to perform it," Moody said in an attempt to placate Hermione's anxiety a little more.

"You're right sir," Hermione nodded before pulling herself up into a rigidly strong stance, "just you be quick about finding them."

Moody nodded before extracting his magical eye and tossing it carelessly to Neville, who caught it with some degree of disgust, and then began to assign search teams before waving them through the border.

"Weasley twins and the sensible one," Moody barked.

"Percy sir," Percy said as he stepped up behind his resentful brothers.

"I want you down the valley and to the right. Shaklebolt, dragon Weasley and Lupin are to do the same and head left. I want Bill, and McGonagal with me while Arthur, you lead the rest deep into the woods and separate while staying in sight of each other as best you can, form a chain or something so one of you is always in sight of the other and so on. I don't want anybody else getting lost out there and I want a rapid recall when we need it."

Moody pulled out several cylinders with funny red funnel looking things on the end of them and tossed one to each group.

"These are a muggle air pressure thingies that makes a hell of a noise. When the rapid recall is needed or when reinforcements are imperative we use these, only in those circumstances understand?"

Everybody nodded and Moody led his group into the magic-free zone with a nod.

"Oh Hermione dear they'll get them back in no time you'll see," Molly was saying with an unsteady voice.

"I know they will," Hermione nodded.

Neville said nothing. He just rolled up his sleeves and began to prepare some emergency portkeys back to St Mungo's.

* * *

Something was dripping and causing a deep echo. Jess assumed they were hiding in a cave somewhere. She could hear Ron's footsteps as he rushed back and forth doing several things to keep them secure and hidden she guessed before pausing suddenly and being very still for a moment.

"It's your head again isn't it Ron?" Jess said sadly as she guessed Ron's stop and start progress was due to him having to ride out the various waves of pain her presence was causing him.

Ron seemed to make a scraping sound against the cave wall and then a soft bumping sound let her know he was sitting on the floor with her now.

"Look I know you want to leave me here and go off to search for Harry but you're not well enough Ron. If you go marching out of this cave it'll be with me following the sound of your footsteps all the way. I'm not sitting here while you get ambushed," she said with determination.

Jess listened again but heard nothing. She fumbled for the stick so she could make contact with him again but as she leaned in to the place he had last made a sound all she could concentrate on was the rusty smell of fresh blood.

"No," she gasped as she reached all around her for that damn stick, "not again, you can't do this again Ron. I won't be able to help you. Please wake up!"

She listened for the gasps of pain and heard nothing; there wasn't even short panicky breaths or the sound of his feet scraping against the cave floor. Either he was being deliberately still or he was unconscious. Jess had to get help. She didn't care if her yells attracted friends or foes as long as somebody came, somebody who could touch Ron without killing him, anybody but her. He scrambled to her feet and felt along the wall of the cave as she headed back towards the source of the draft on her face. Her foot hit something lying on the ground before her and she fell flat on her face and an explosion of pain tore through her once more as the second vision assaulted her mind.

She screamed.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Percy said as he grabbed George's elbow and pulled him back to peer through the trees.

"Yeah I did," George said fearfully, that sounded like a girl.

"Well come on then!" Fred said as he ran into the woods brandishing a cricket bat as if it was a axe.

The three of them ran through the thicket and wove amongst the trees towards, what they hoped, was their brother, Harry and the seer girl Jess.

"We're coming, hold on!" Fred yelled out as he jumped over a fallen tree and landed heavily on the other side.

George jumped the horizontal trunk with just as much ease and with a slightly better landing than his twin had managed but Percy wasn't really much of an athlete and clambered over it with all the grace of a troll using a salad fork.

The scream sounded again and this time it was louder, they were getting closer. Percy felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest as they reached a rock face covered in undergrowth and not a soul to be seen anywhere.

"Where the hell are they?" Fred said as he spun around on the spot.

"Hiding from Death Eaters of course!" George said as he scanned the surrounding trees for any sign of red hair or round glasses.

"Both of you shut up and listen," Percy ordered and, while glaring at their bossy brother, both twins complied without a word of protest.

Percy thought he heard a sniff and then a bought of coughing. It sounded like a there was an echo just after it too.

"There's a cave, they've hidden the entrance," Percy said as he began to tear at the natural looking growth over the side of the rock face.

Fred soon joined him while George drew the cleaver he had as his weapon and began to hack at the thick vines of ivy that could've been concealing the entrance to any kind of cave from them.

"I've got it!" Fred said as he tore away some loose branches that were covering a narrow crack in the stone, "quick in here."

Percy followed Fred inside with George right behind him and they squinted through the darkness for any sign of anything.

"I can't see a bloody thing," George hissed.

Fred seemed to be fumbling in his pockets and suddenly pulled a device out that clicked and produced a single flame. The cave was very poorly illuminated now but illuminated all the same. Percy was about to enquire where Fred laid his hands on a muggle fire making device when George shoved his way past him and skidded to his knees.

"Oh Merlin Ron!" he said fearfully.

Percy looked at the cave floor where his youngest brother was sputtering and trying to wipe a hell of a lot of blood from his face while on the other side of the cave a terrified looking girl with bushier hair then Hermione's and a stick in her hand sat pressed against the wall in shock.

"Here," Fred offered George a handkerchief to clean Ron's face up with while Percy knelt down before the blind girl and rested his hands gently upon her shoulders.

""Hello there, are you Jess?" he asked in as unthreateningly a tone as he could manage, the girl nodded, "My name is Percy and I'm Ron's brother."

"Is he okay?" she said suddenly as he gripped Percy's shirt like her life depended on it, "I tried not to go near him, I tried not to touch him but I couldn't hear where he was and when I tried to go and call for help I fell over him."

Percy glanced over to the twins who were mopping up what appeared to be a bloody nose and watching Ron signing and then going blank and losing focus and then signing again.

"He's with our brother's Fred and George, he's talking to them okay? Don't worry about anything, just tell us where Harry is."

"Harry's been captured," Fred said grimly, "Ron says she saw it. They've got Harry and they've messed him up pretty badly."

Just as Percy was going to ask for more details Ron rose to his feet and pushed his way past the twins and ran out of the cave.

"No stop him," Percy yelled after their departing brother, "he can't fight anyone in that state!"

"Ron?" Jess was saying fearfully, "Ron don't go please!"

Percy grabbed the blind girl and led her out of the cave after the twins who were trying to get Ron to come back and calm down. Fred was standing in front of Ron and looking completely thrown at what he was seeing.

"Ron mate, I have no idea what half of the stuff your signing means," he pleaded as he tried to physically restrain his little brother.

Percy reached the small group where it had stopped and unceremoniously shoved Jess into George's arms while stepping in and spinning Ron around to look at him.

"Tell me Ron, I know more signs then they do," he said as he watched his brother's nose pouring with a new wave of blood.

"What's that supposed to mean you...?" Fred was snapping but Percy waved a hand to tell his obstinate brother that now was not the time.

Ron was beginning to sign some very complex expressions. He then started to fingerspell in Latin and Percy was about to grab hold of Ron and order him to take a deep breath and start again slowly when the pair of blue eyes he knew so well disappeared into the back of his head and Ron reached out and grabbed Jess by the hair.

The girl screamed and Ron placed a hand on either side of her head and they both went rigid.

* * *

Harry felt something incredible inside his own head that he couldn't explain and he winced in pain. The Death Eaters who surrounded him all seemed quite pleased but equally confused at where this fresh torture was coming from.

"It must be her, this must be it," the general said with glee, "He is giving her up to us, prepare to receive the true gift of knowledge boys!"

The old codger stood before Harry with both arms outstretched and waited for what he expected to fly out from Harry into flow forth into him but it never came. Instead Harry's eyes closed and his face contorted in both agony and surprise.

"Ron?" he barely managed to say out loud as the pain of a billion headaches at once seared through his brain followed by the sound of Jess screaming and then the voices of Ron and a strange female voice speaking in unison with perfectly calm authority.

"Open your eyes and let me see," the voices demanded.

Harry did as he was told. He looked around the room, at all the figures within the room, and at every detail of the room itself. Then it seemed as if the walls had fallen away and he could see the whole building surrounding the room. That too disintegrated into nothing and Harry could see the trees and the countryside and the clearing full of various scattered search parties. He was drawn across the clearing and through the trees until eventually he saw Ron with the twins and Percy. Ron was bleeding and holding onto Jess' head and she was still screaming. Ron's eyes were open but all Harry could see were the whites of them until he felt himself physically reach out for his best friend and tell him to let go, that it was too dangerous, let go and run.

Ron's eyes rolled forward again and looked Harry directly in the eye. Then Ron did something that shook Harry to his very core, he spoke.

"I'm coming for you."

There was a blinding flash of white light and Harry was back in the room again and all the Death Eaters were rushing around in a panic.

"She has taken the form of another!" the general said frantically as he pointed the gun at Harry and then at the open door where several Death Eaters were fleeing in terror, "She takes human form and has taken account of us all!"

"We need to return to the magical world general," one of the robed figures said.

Others were yelling and trying to convince the general to kill Harry and end Ravenclaw with him, others were furiously declaring that it had been the three into one after all; the vessel, the key and the bridge.

"The sight shows the mute who passes the knowledge to the one who can speak it without even having heard it and that is how we extract the information you old fool! I told you all along," a Death Eater with his hood flung back and a shiny bald head snarled at the old man.

Several more Death Eaters ran back inside the room yelling warnings of an ambush awaiting them and others drew their weapons and ran for every possible exit from the building. The general turned to glare at Harry and his eyes were alight with a victory that was inevitable but now slightly delayed.

"It was the mute after all then was it? How noble of you to die protecting one who should've been put out of his misery long ago. Well you started the job Potter; I'll gladly finish him off for you. It's just a shame you won't be around to see it," the general raised the gun to Harry's head and pulled the trigger.


	10. Flesh Wounds

**Flesh Wounds**

Ron released Jess and she fell to the ground sobbing. Percy was shaking like a leaf and George wasn't much better. Fred could've sworn he saw Ron's lips moving exactly in time to Jess speaking the words '_I'm coming for you_' a moment ago. He reached out for his brother who was now staring straight ahead and seeming to glow slightly.

"Ron stop now eh? That's enough!" Fred said as his hand was just about to grab Ron's wrist.

"You can't fight them on your own Ron, not even with her!" Jess was sobbing while George looked from one to the other totally lost.

Percy seemed to have something to say himself but he didn't get the chance as Ron sent out a burst of bright yellow energy and disapparated on the spot.

"What the?" Fred said as he almost fell over backwards, "Has the non-magical border been taken down?"

"No," Percy said quietly as he stared at the spot his youngest brother had just been standing, "it just came up against something much stronger."

Before Fred could find out what exactly was going on three Death Eaters blundered through the trees and froze at the sight of the group before them. Percy and Fred raised their weapons while George hauled Jess to her feet and positioned himself in front of her while drawing his cleaver threateningly. The Death Eaters were armed too and ready to fight anyone in order to get across that border.

* * *

The gun clicked and the general stared at it without comprehension. Harry couldn't believe it in his current state of discomfort but he actually laughed.

"See one thing you really should have learned about guns before you decided to use one," Harry smirked, "is how to reload!"

The general growled and threw the empty gun towards Harry in frustration. It never hit its intended target however. There was a brilliant yellow flash and a crack that sounded an awful lot like apparition and then Ron was standing between them.

"How the hell did you do that?" Harry exclaimed before gasping as he saw that Ron's hand was raised in front of him and he was holding the gun in mid air between himself and the general.

"Ravenclaw can do anything she puts his mind to," the general said with a smile of awe at the amount of power he saw on display before his very eyes.

Harry swallowed and hoped that Ron wasn't lost to this possession indefinitely. He hoped that it wasn't going to destroy Ron's own mind. He hoped that Ron was still in there somewhere.

"Leave him alone now," Harry found himself calling out to the back of his friend's red head.

Ron seemed to be emanating a warm yellow glow, like the one left behind by the lightning bolt trail, and he raised his other hand towards the floating gun as well. Harry held his breath instinctively and the general smiled and took a step forward, seeming to think something good was about to happen.

"She is going to share her gift with me, with all of us," the general said in a state of near hypnosis.

Ron's lip curled into a very slight smile and he nodded. Harry wanted to scream at his friend to fight for control, to come back and force her out, but he was still paralysed at what he was seeing and by the sixth sense he was feeling inside that told him he needn't worry. Ron's arms were drawn apart and directed at every Death Eater who remained in the room and the gun exploded into jagged fragments, one for each of them, which plunged directly into the hearts of every dark wizard in the room.

They all dropped to the ground without even a yelp. They were dead immediately, even the general whose expression of awed joy had changed into one of comical surprise.

Ron turned around to face Harry and smiled at him, it wasn't Ron's smile but it was a smile all the same, and he waved his fingers at Harry's wrists. His bonds were dissolved and Harry tumbled to the ground where his arms and legs found new ways to hurt and his shoe seemed to be filling with fresh blood from the gunshot wound. Harry grimaced past all of this agony though and looked up at Ron who was taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes.

He seemed to be swallowing the residual power back inside of him before slumping to the ground himself and vomiting blood.

"Oh my God," Harry gasped as he dragged himself over to Ron's side and pulled his friend upright again.

Ron wiped his mouth and then his bloodied face, his nose had been bleeding too Harry could see now, and leaned with Harry against the wall behind the two of them.

"No more bleeding okay Ron?" Harry said fearfully.

Ron gave a very weak but very 'Ron-like' smile in return and signed his response. He pointed at himself and shook his head before pointing at Harry and shaking his head again.

"Deal," Harry nodded as he winced at the sharp pain in his shoulder where the bullet was still lodged deeply, "I won't if you don't."

Ron's eyes were falling closed and Harry's own eyelids felt heavier then he'd ever felt them in his life. Ron smiled again and pointed at himself, rubbed his hands together, pointed at his eye and then from his eye to Harry. Harry gave a halfhearted chuckle as his eyes finally lost the battle to stay open at the exact same moment Ron's did.

"It's good to see you too," he managed to mumble before they both slumped against each other.

* * *

Percy was on the Death Eater's back and tightening his strangle hold around the man's neck. The dark wizard ran backwards into a nearby tree and began to beat Percy against it repeatedly in an attempt to knock him off. Thought the body slams were painful Percy wasn't going to let go of the man for anything in the world.

Fred was knocking the legs out from under the two attacking Death Eaters with his cricket bat and they both hit the ground hard. Fred whacked one of the men between the legs with the end of his bat before turning on the other as he struggled to get up again and pinned him down by holding the bat, cornered side down, against his throat and pressed down with his full weight.

George was still doing everything he could to protect Jess and the Death Eater he was facing took full advantage of that fact. It was one thing to watch your own back but to watch the back of another who was unarmed and blind was completely impossible. George had managed to knock the Death Eater down and kick him in the stomach to wind him long enough to get Jess out of harm's way properly. He made her push up on his hands with her foot and grab hold of the thick tree branch above her head.

"Pull yourself up Jess, quick!" he yelled to her.

"Pull myself up to where?" Jess squealed down to him as she dangled from the tree.

"Pull yourself up and sit on the tree branch," George shouted back up at her.

Jess seemed to look right at him as her eyes widened and her head faced downwards toward George's own and her expression conveyed exactly what she thought of George at that moment. He was an idiot.

"Do I look like a gymnast to you?" she declared as her legs swung around and George had to duck to avoid being kicked in the side of the face.

This distraction was too much though and the Death Eater behind George had got his second wind and also George's cleaver. Just as George was going to try and give Jess another upward shove so she could attempt to get some leverage and pull her body up over the branch he felt the blade slicing across the skin of his back. He yelled out in pain and fell to the ground just as a second strike was being aimed down at him and this time the Death Eater intended it to cut a lot deeper.

Percy saw George hadn't noticed that Death Eater coming at him from behind and lost his patience with the dark wizard he was fighting. He released the man from the strangle hold; spun him around and head butted him. Percy immediately regretted it as his glasses shattered into his own face but the Death Eater was on the ground and completely unconscious. Percy jumped over Fred and the Death Eater he was in to process of turning an alarming shade of blue and kicked the other one in the face, breaking his front teeth and his nose at the same time and heard George yelling as the blade slashed across his back.

Percy stood before his injured brother as he hit the ground and raised his hands to stop the second blow of the cleaver as it came down. He had blood in his eyes by now but he wouldn't have been able to see without his glasses anyway so he just gritted his teeth and tried to keep the big dark blur of a man he was fighting as still as possible. The more he moved the more trouble Percy would be in.

"How many Weasleys can die in one day?" the Death Eater snarled, "One's at the mercy of the general as we speak, one's ripped open on the floor and now the three of us are going to finish you and your scrappy brother!"

Percy kneed the Death Eater in the testicles. The dark wizard dropped the blade and Percy kicked him in the head before the bloodied Death Eater with the missing teeth tackled him and slammed him down onto the ground. He set about pummelling his fists into Percy's stomach and Fred was thrown from the Death Eater he was fighting as he became distracted by the plight of his brothers. The Death Eater pulled a knuckle-duster from his pocket and slid it over his fingers while smiling as best a man with no front teeth actually can.

"Taste some steel office boy," he said as he drew back his fist.

George grabbed his cleaver up from the floor and stabbed it into the man's side. The Death Eater staggered backwards and the knuckle-duster slid off his loose fingers and bounced once on the forest floor before his hands clutched at his bleeding side and he turned tail and ran.

"You'll be dead before you reach the border you bastard!" George roared as he heaved himself over to Percy and wiped the blood from his eyes, "Shit Perce, you're not blind as well are you?"

Percy laughed and coughed at the same time, his stomach still tender from the severe beating it had taken, and he took George's hand and pulled himself up with a wince.

"Nothing that a new pair of specs won't fix."

Fred was still wrestling with the Death Eater a little way away and the one Percy had originally been fighting was coming round. Fred kicked the Death Eater he had towering over him in the chest and he staggered backwards and fell into his comrade just as he got to his feet. Fred ran to see if his brothers were alright, still brandishing his blood drenched cricket bat, and tripped over the unconscious Death Eater sprawled on the floor between them. He hit the ground heavily and practically lay across Percy and George's laps. The Death Eater he had been fighting and his new ally in the attack against Fred ran at the battered group as they slumped in a tangled mess of limbs and blood at the base of the tree.

Just as they were about to deliver their final blows to the three brothers, who were all raising their weapons in defence, something screeched and fell from the tree above them and crashed on top of bothDeath Eaters heavily.

"Ouch!" Jess groaned before feeling the two motionless bodies beneath her and panicking, "Oh no who did I land on? I'm so sorry, you just left me hanging from a tree, I couldn't hold on anymore!"

Fred laughed and reached out to pat Jess on the arm.

"It's okay Jess, we're all over here. You just squished the bad guys."

Jess looked pleasantly surprised at this before lifting her leg and dropping it to kick the figures beneath her.

"That's what you get for messing with me!"

* * *

Harry woke up surrounded by battered and bruised redheads. He blinked his eyes and Ginny handed him his glasses. He put them on and tried to sit up and what felt like a red-hot poker through his shoulder pressed him back down onto the bed.

"Whoa there Harry," Charlie said with a smile despite his split lip, "it's still healing. The extraction process causes a bit of bruising and then there are all the potions to prevent infection but you're going to be fine. There's not even a hole in you!"

"Or your foot neither," Fred said, his face dreadfully bruised and scratched.

"Well that's good," Harry smiled, "what happened to all of you?"

Harry was told of the rescue mission and the nasty scrap the twins and Percy had with the four Death Eaters fleeing from the general's hideout.

"So why aren't you getting your face healed then Fred?" Harry asked as he noticed Mrs Weasley fretting over her son's black eye.

"I'm going next, I told them to fix George and Percy up first," Fred nodded over his shoulder.

Harry forgot the advice not to try and sit up and moved to do so again. He yelped and Fred chuckled and pushed him back down again.

"What happened to them? Are they going to be alright? You said George's cut wasn't too deep and that Percy's eyes were going to be fine," Harry said as he tried to angle his head so he could look past Ginny and over to the other beds across the ward.

"They're going to be fine Harry, stop worrying about everybody else and lie still would you?" Ginny said impatiently, "Honestly it's as if you don't even care that you've been tortured!"

Mrs Weasley clamped her hand to her mouth and choked back a sob. Her husband put his arm around her and gave her a brief cuddle. Harry looked at all the faces staring down at him again and realised that Bill, Ron, Hermione and Neville were unaccounted for.

"Ron? He was with me; they didn't take him did they? It's him they want and they know it now. They thought it was me," Harry began talking and it just grew faster and faster until he was on the verge of hyperventilating, "I didn't tell them but he showed up there. He apparated there and that's not possible is it and he...he... they were all dead and he didn't have a wand and some of them suspected him anyway and there's three of them It's Ron, Jess and another person and...Where's Jess?"

"Harry calm down!" Fred demanded as he clamped his hand over Harry's mouth, "Listen to me okay?"

Harry nodded and Fred removed his hand from Harry's mouth. The family looked mortified, apparently they didn't know about Ron now being the original target, but Fred cleared his head enough to answer as many questions as he could address at that moment.

"Bill's just over there with Percy okay?"

"Alright Harry?" Bill's voice called out from somewhere.

"Ron's been moved to a secure ward to keep him from doing another runner on us again and when he's a little less...well internally bleeding I will personally kick his arse for being so stupid alright?"

"Internally bleeding?" Harry said, feeling all his own blood drain from his face completely.

Ginny squeezed his hand tightly and Mrs Weasley let out another strained sob.

"That's just what they're calling his nosebleed Harry," Fred smiled reassuringly.

"Oh yeah, and what are they calling him puking blood?" Harry demanded.

Fred's smile fell from his face in an instant.

"Oh you knew about that?"

"Knew about it? I _saw_ it!" Harry yelled, causing Ginny to cringe and he, himself, to wince at the pain in his legs at his jerks of activity.

"Yeah well, it's to do with the stress of him channelling whatever it is he's channelling to let him disapparate in the middle of a non-magical area. The pressure just burst a few blood vessels in his nose and when you have a three or four hour long nosebleed you tend to get a bit of blood in your stomach Harry mate. Don't worry, it's just the nosebleed they're trying to get to stop."

"It's still going?" Harry exclaimed.

"On and off," Ginny shrugged.

"That's where Hermione and Neville are now, they're checking his head out and Hermione's giving him the verbal equivalent of a repeated punch to the face for being such an idiot," Charlie added with a grin.

"Jess has been checked out, given the all clear and she's on her way back to Cumbria now," Fred finished.

Harry lay back in his bed and closed his eyes. So everybody was as okay as it was possible for them to be. He opened his eyes again to see Fred being pulled away by a medi witch and George reappearing in his place while trying to ignore his mother's pleas to rest his poor back.

"It's healed woman, what's to rest?" he huffed before grinning down at Harry, "Glad you're alright there Harry, we were worried for a while."

"Well I don't like to live an incident free life for very long do I?" Harry smiled.

George leaned in and lowered his voice as if ashamed of what he was about to say being overheard by the family.

"So Percy turns out to be...a good bloke after all," he paused to share a look of disbelief with Harry, who simply chuckled, "I never knew he could fight like that Harry. He actually nutted one of them!"

Ginny snorted and whispered to Harry.

"Hence his current concussion!"

The doors to the ward swung open and a healer bounded in, clearing all Weasleys as he approached Harry's bed.

"Ah Mr Potter, I heard you were awake, let's get the last of those aches healed shall we?" she smiled as she withdrew her wand and flicked them at the curtains which slid closed all around the bed.

Harry sat back and let the healer do their magic. His mind was on things other then the mild discomfort of his injuries though. All he could think about were those Death Eaters who had escaped. They were out there somewhere and they knew that Ron had what they wanted. Ron was their target and he was still nowhere near cured.

More than anything else he thought about Ron's immediate future as a prisoner of his own secure ward. He was an indefinite inhabitant of St Mungo's and so far there didn't seem to be any way out for him. The very life he and Hermione had saved Harry from was now the only way Ron had of keeping his own.

The checks were over, Harry's aches were soothed and the healer threw back the curtains and left the ward. Percy stepped in through the parting in the curtains and adjusted his new glasses on the end of his nose.

"Harry," he nodded.

"Percy," Harry nodded in a similar fashion, "I hear you've mastered the Glasgow kiss?"

Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not proud of it."

"Well you should be," Harry said sincerely, "You saved the twins lives. That's going to make it really hard for them to hate you now y'know?"

Percy gave the slightest of smiles at this before shrugging.

"Well you'd know about making yourself impossible to hate wouldn't you Harry?" Percy looked down at his feet before continuing, "I know that you took all that for Ron. You knew it was him they wanted and you were going to let them torture you, maybe to death, and you would never have given him up to them. You wouldn't have even tried to call on him for help."

Percy looked up and met Harry's eyes, Harry looked away almost immediately.

"I can't ever take that scar away for him Percy. I can't ever give him his voice back. I can't ever give him his laugh back but I'll be damned if I ever let anybody do anything to hurt him the way I hurt him."

Percy leaned over and forced Harry to look him in the eye.

"You've never hurt Ron since the day you met him Harry. We both just seem to go about protecting people we love the wrong way."

* * *

Hermione was trying to be as professional as possible. It was hard though. It was difficult to see Ron like this and it was even worse to see him look at her in that way he had been as if she had betrayed him or something. She marked off the dosage of the potion she had just given him to clot the burst blood vessels inside Ron's nose and replaced the chart in its holder.

"I'm going to go downstairs now to check on Harry okay?" she called out to him.

Ron didn't even shrug. This was worse then the silent treatment, as funny as it sounds Ron could actually still deliver the silent treatment these days, and she knew she couldn't leave it like this with him. Hermione walked over to the window where Ron was leaning against the wall and tapping at the metal bars that blocked it with his finger idly.

"Look Ron I know this seems like more of a punishment then something we have to do to protect you but..." Hermione couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed Ron's chin to force him to face her, "Look at me!"

Ron huffed and folded his arms before turning away from the window and away from Hermione.

"I know what it must look like okay? The bars, the guards on the door, and the consent forms for any visitors but it's got to be done Ron. You know this isn't about locking you away from people."

Ron turned and scowled at Hermione before gesturing to the bars again and stomping away.

"Ron please just..." she began but stopped as Ron spun around and glared at her.

Ron prodded himself in the chest and seemed to be counting layers stacked one on top of the other with his hand before splaying both hands twice. He was pointing out that he was on the twentieth floor. He shrugged while twirling his index fingers upwards on either side of his head and gesturing at the windows again before making a diving gesture.

"Of course we don't think you're going to jump!" Hermione said with anger, "I know you think the bars are pointless this high up but some Death Eater with a broom could just..."

Ron interrupted with the slamming of his hands together, causing a loud clapping sound, and then interlocking his fingers, pointing at his thumb, curling his index finger into his palm, making a 'D' shape with thumb, forefinger and opposite index finger and finally linking his little fingers together.

"Yes there are wards, you're right, they'd just bounce right off them if they tried it but I'm not willing to take any chances with you okay? I won't, Neville won't and Healer Kalra definitely won't so stop bloody moaning about being stuck here and let us find a way to get that woman out of you! We've got to find a way to get those thoughts out of you or risk losing you to whatever dark wizard wants to exploit Ravenclaw's mind."

Ron seethed and turned away from Hermione again. He marched over to the opposite window, barred just like the others were, and kicked a metal potion tray across the floor with a loud clatter as he went. Hermione took a deep breath and let it out before gathering up her things and walking quietly to the door.

She had been beside herself when Ron and Harry were carried out of the non-magical border unconscious and covered in blood. Percy had told her everything he and Harry had pieced together and then every last detail about Ron's behaviour in the woods just before he disappeared and she head feared the worst. This was ten times more stress then the incident that had put him in a coma for three weeks and things could have turned out much worse for him. She had worked furiously on him all the way to St Mungo's and then with Healer Kalra after that.

Ron's nosebleeds were triggered by stress but the profuseness of the bleeding, the fact that the blood wouldn't clot while he was under this mind control, worried everybody. This was internal bleeding that could also be affecting the brain. Ron didn't need any more pressure on his brain than he was already under right now but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get him to understand.

He hadn't just been running to Cumbria to help Jess, he had been running away from these very circumstances. He knew as soon as nurse Stour showed up to report Jess missing and inform the staff of St Mungo's that she'd be heading right to them to see Ron that they'd lock him away for his own protection. He'd only just won his own little bit of independence back and now he'd lost it and ended up in a worse state then before.

She remembered how Ron had saved Harry from his own downward spiral of self-pity with his 'tough love' and knew that this time she had to be the bad guy. She would do it and she wouldn't give in until Ron was safe enough and well enough to leave. That didn't mean doing it to him didn't break her heart.

As she opened the door and gave a strained smile to the two Auror guards stationed outside the secure ward something shattered against the doorframe beside her. She flinched and turned in shock to see Ron, his ears burning red and almost shaking with rage, as he seemed to snatch something away from his face and toss it over his shoulder before shaking his head and putting his hands together like saloon doors in a western and then miming the turning of a key.

_'Don't forget to lock the door'_

Hermione repaired the ceramic mug that Ron had thrown at the doorframe, just inches from her head, and set it upon a nearby shelf.

"Don't worry, I won't."

* * *

Jess was sitting in the day room, supposedly alone, when the sound of a chair scraping beside her made her jump.

"Who's that?" she said as she held out her hand and felt the space to her left.

"Me," a gruff low voice said, as if they were talking to her against their better judgement.

"Me who?" Jess said with annoyance.

"Never mind," the low voice growled, "I just wanted to tell you to stop chasing that bloke. You're not saving anyone. You're not warning anybody. You're causing it all."

The chair scraped again and Jess grabbed the man's arm and yanked him back towards her.

"It's you isn't it? You're the magic sapper guy."

"So what if I am?"

"So you never liked him. You kept telling people he shouldn't be here and that he should go away. Stay the hell away from you isn't that what you said to Stour that time he collapsed here?"

"It's a magic free environment and he isn't magic free!" the voice snarled, not as low this time and the arm was yanked away from Jess' grip, "I nearly killed the poor guy once already and I was fucking well asleep! I don't want him back here again."

Jess sat in shock before feeling hot breath on her earlobe and shuddering.

"You call him back here again and I can't be held responsible for what my powers do to him understand?" he whispered into her ear.

Jess nodded and she felt her eyes burning with tears. The breath was gone and all she could hear over her own rapid heartbeat were the sapper's departing footsteps. She made a silent promise to herself right then. She'd never tell anybody about her visions of Ron when she had them from now on. She'd never try to contact him again. She'd keep herself invisible and keep him from feeling obliged to come back and see her. Her visions had done nothing for him other than ruin his life and it was time she left him alone now.

"Jess," nurse Stour's voice sounded from the doorway to the day room, "are you alright? You look as if you've been crying."

Jess wiped her face with her hand and shook her head.

"I'm fine nurse Stour," she smiled, "just a little hay fever that's all."


	11. What Life?

**What Life?**

The silver haired minister greeted Percy with a warm hug before looking him in the eye and linking his hands and making a circular motion. Percy curled his index finger and hit it against his palm before giving a thumbs up.

The minister had obviously heard about the Weasley family troubles and Percy was moved that his boss had expressed a concern for their welfare but really didn't want to talk about it. It was enough that he now had to get security clearance with St Mungo's and make an appointment to see Ron in his new ward without the pain of talking about it with his employer. The wizard seemed to understand and gave Percy a firm pat on the back before handing him a folder full of paperwork and stepping back behind his desk.

Percy opened the folder and started work, anything to forget about the fact that there was a war over control of memories inside his brother that didn't even belong to him in the first place.

* * *

Hermione had been assigned to be the one to give Harry the final once over and discharge him. Her services on Ron's ward were no longer needed, as now the focus was on the brain trauma and the invading thoughts and knowledge that had to be purged and that was Neville's field. Harry and Ginny had been a great support to her since this whole mess had been blown wide open for all to see and they had been strong for her every time she cracked under the strain of her 'tough love' with Ron.

It had broken her heart when Healer Kalra advised her that maybe she shouldn't visit him for a few days but she understood where he was coming from. Ginny had taken her out for cheesecake and then taken her home to her parents house and left her sobbing into her mother's pristine silk blouse. Harry had been security cleared at his adamant insistence and booked daily appointments to visit Ron. This was something they'd both been through and something they had both suffered a hell of a lot for despite being neither of their fault.

There was something about Harry, and indeed Percy for some reason, that made Ron drop the attitude and talk openly. Ron was being highly resentful of his mother's fussing and over-protectiveness. He had had quite a nasty argument with her in which he pointed out that he didn't need wrapping in cotton wool when the healers were suffocating him with it already. She had run from the secure ward in tears when he had told her that all she could give him that he really wanted would be a cake with a file in it.

Fortunately for Ron his dad knew when to laugh at his temper rather then rile him up even more and he was able to go back more often in place of Mrs Weasley. She would still go but with one of Ron's brother's or Ginny and she'd let them talk while she just smiled at him and presented him with magazines and various home cooked treats to make his stay just the tiniest bit bearable.

In general Ron wasn't in much of a mood for talking to anybody, Harry and Percy permitting, and reverted back to smashing things to prove a point or simply to blow off steam. A Death Eater called Layton had already been apprehended attempting to gain access to the twentieth floor without clearance and the Aurors discovered, via a very dubious use of veritassyrum, that there were indeed plans afoot to capture Ron and forcibly extract the Ravenclaw knowledge from him.

Hermione signed Harry's discharge papers and smiled at his as she handed him his copy.

"There you are, you're free to go," she said as if she'd just told him Hedwig was dead.

"Well you could try to sound a little more happy about it Hermione," Harry snorted as he took the paper from his gloomy friend.

"Sorry," she smiled as she sat down on Harry's now vacant bed, "It's just that you can go back to the flat and do what you like when you like and he's just...up there on his own."

Harry sat beside her and put an arm around her comfortingly.

"Look Neville and Kalra are Ron's personal miracle workers aren't they?" Harry grinned and Hermione gave a watery chuckle and nodded, "And me and Percy are, believe it or not, working together to try and find a way to help too. Think of that eh? Percy's brains and my knack for getting out of sticky situations, that's solid gold right there!"

Hermione laughed properly at this and wiped her welling eyes before getting up from the bed.

"Well Healer Kalra told me that I could maybe go and see Ron on Sunday if I wanted to but I'd rather know that Ron wants to see me himself rather than impose myself upon him," Hermione began.

"Oh don't be stupid," Harry said crossly, "you're not imposing yourself on him."

"Listen to me Harry," she said firmly, "I want you to ask him if he minds me coming to see him on Sunday. I want him to be able to decide for himself okay? The poor guy needs some control over his own life back Harry, even if it's just the ability to say yes or no to this one little thing. Just ask him for me would you?"

Harry nodded and gave her a hug.

* * *

"Well there's one thing Ron and Ravenclaw have in common isn't there?" Percy said sombrely to Neville while he waited outside Ron's room for his visit.

"What's that then?" Neville said wearily, he had been on a twelve-hour shift and it wasn't even close to being over yet.

"They're both stuck in prisons not of their own making and through no fault of their own."

Neville nodded and rested his head against the wall behind him.

"You know what we need?" the young trainee healer said as he closed his eyes and wondered if he'd be able to open them again without coffee.

"What?" Percy said with a frown.

"I've no idea," said Neville with a sigh, "I was hoping you might know."

Percy chuckled and gave Neville a shove as he got up and began to stretch his legs by pacing slowly up and down outside Ron's ward. For several minutes they were both quiet. Neville must have dropped off to sleep because he suddenly felt as if he was falling and jerked awake in his chair.

"Sorry," he said, slightly flustered, "bad dream."

"It is isn't it?" Percy said as he stood before the closed doors, staring at them with a furrowed brow.

Neville got up from his seat and stood next to Percy.

"Hey are you alright?" he asked as he frowned with concern for the older boy.

"Not really no," Percy said quietly, "I'm about to go in there and try to remind my brother that all this crap he's having to put up with is worth it if it saves his life."

Neville nodded and stared at the closed door as well.

"The thing is Neville," Percy said as he turned to look at the young trainee healer, "he's not got much of a life stuck in there has he?"

Neville gave Percy a pat on the back.

"Don't talk like that Percy. It's only temporary you know that."

"Do I?" Percy snapped, "Does Ron? Does anybody? We're so keen to keep him protected that we've taken him out of his own life. He hasn't got any freedom, any control or say over what happens to him. He can't even throw a tantrum and check himself out Neville. He is literally a prisoner. It may be for his own protection but it's imprisonment all the same. It's not fair and it's not right and...forget it."

Percy slumped back into his seat and put his head in his hands. Neville sat beside him again.

"My gran once told me that living a dull long life is more tragic then living a lifetime in one day and one day only."

Percy lifted his head and blinked as he stared at Neville.

"What d'you think she meant by that?"

Neville looked away from Percy's eyes and focused upon his own hands as he spoke.

"Y'know a caterpillar is a hairy brown or green thing. It's dull and boring and name me one person who'd want to be able to transfigure into a caterpillar? There isn't one. And a caterpillar gets to be a caterpillar for ages. It hatches and grows and chomps through leaves and gets fat. Sometimes birds eat them, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they live their life to its full course and start to build their own little cocoon. They stay under the radar and nobody notices them to eat them or squish them and what do they get for it? They get to make their own coffin for themselves and sit in it waiting to be reborn."

Percy sat upright and turned in his seat a little to stare at Neville attentively.

"Then they change and grow and fight their way out of that coffin and a blaze of colour and they get to be beautiful and they get to fly and they get to be seen and admired and noticed for the very first time in their lives," Neville smiled sadly at Percy, finally meeting the older boy's eyes, "and it's only ever for one day Percy. They have the kind of life that most other creatures and even some people could only ever dream of and they have it for one day only."

"What are you saying Neville?" Percy said, sounding as if speech was as unfamiliar to him as it now was to Ron.

"I'm saying that we've built Ron the coffin that he'll die in," Neville said with such cynicism that Percy wanted to shake him and yell for the real Neville to come out, "We're just keeping him safe so nobody can squish him and he can just sit in his cocoon and wait until one of us decides that he can finally come out and have that one good day at long last."

Neville's head dropped again and his strong voice faltered and cracked before becoming nothing more than a mumble.

"Ron deserves more than just one good day. He's done his time and he's kept his head and now he just wants to be able to be whatever he wants to be and screw anybody who wants to stop him. He doesn't want to be in his cocoon anymore Percy. He's not scared of them. He's not scared."

"I'm scared," Percy whispered, "I don't want him to die."

"Neither does he," Neville said before sitting up and looking at Percy with glistening eyes, "but he doesn't want to stop living either."

"Mr Weasley, you can go in and see your brother now," the medi witch smiled as she unlocked the door to Ron's ward and the security Aurors scanned him with their wands.

Percy looked over his shoulder at Neville and they both saw it in each other's eyes. This had to stop.

* * *

Jess tapped her cane along the corridor until she found the bathroom and turned the handle.

She stepped inside and locked the door behind her before sliding down it and bursting into tears. Her whole body was shaking after the vision she had just had and she didn't want to talk about it with anybody. She didn't want to talk to Stour or the temporary therapist or any of the other patients. All she could think about was what the sapper had told her.

He could kill Ron without even knowing he was doing it. He could kill him in his sleep.

But Ron was the only person she wanted to talk to right now. It wasn't just because of the horrific visions of him in trouble that she wanted to speak to him, it was the fact that he knew exactly how she felt and what she had been through. He had been hurt by magic and he had lost something precious. He also had something that the dark wizards wanted so badly that they were prepared to kill for it. He understood her and listened to her and he made her feel as if she wasn't so alone in her dark little world.

Despite being no use to each other when they were lost in the woods she had felt safe just knowing he was there. She had also felt sickened to know that her being there was making him so ill. Maybe it was her need for Ron's companionship that was draining him just as much as the sapper's uncontrollable power.

She sniffed and wiped her scarred eyes. The words she had heard in her vision were still ringing in her ears. The small crowd of dark robed figures chaining two struggling people to a wall before dragging Ron into the room and throwing him to the ground before them. Ron could barely stand and she could hear herself crying out his name in real life as well as in the vision. He was practically dead and they were going to finish him off it seemed.

Then she heard the words, muttered words as if they were being whispered into her ear from over her shoulder, she could even smell the putrid breath of the Death Eater as he spoke them in a coarse whisper.

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...until now!"

* * *

Ron's heart wasn't in this game but Harry made him play anyway.

"Your move Weasley," he said after directing his rook to throw himself into the breech bravely.

Ron scanned the board and looked up at Harry.

"You want to make a prediction?" Harry grinned.

Ron sat back in his chair and pointed at his head putting his wrists together and jerking them downwards. Then he gestured around him at the ward before rubbing the top of his fist with his palm and crossing his arms over each other. He moved his hand away from himself, pointing his index and forefingers on both hands downwards.

Harry felt sick.

"Melodrama doesn't suit you Ron, now make your damn move!" he snapped at his best friend.

Ron's eyes returned to the boards and Harry tried not to dwell on the fact that Ron had just told him his prediction, not for the game but for his own future. Ron thought he was going to be stuck in hiding until he died; be it from his brain trauma or at the hands of the Death Eaters; and Harry wasn't willing to contemplate that.

Ron blew out a careless exhalation and tapped one of his pawns on the head. The tiny figure turned and looked at Ron who banged two of his fists together and held up four fingers lazily. The pawn nodded and marched boldly to square G Four. Ron put his elbow on the table, rested his chin in his palm and stifled a yawn before looking across the board to Harry and raising his eyebrows to let him know it was his turn.

Harry didn't recognise this person as his best friend. This wasn't the lively volatile person he had grown up with. This wasn't the never say die attitude that had got Harry through the hard times. This wasn't the fearless bold person who had taken it as read that he would be at Harry's side at the very end when he faced Voldemort. More than anything else this guy who claimed to be his best friend Ron Weasley was not the same man who had stormed out of Harry's hospital room vowing never to come back again unless he pulled himself together.

Ron had bounced back from so much and now he'd lost his bounce completely.

Harry slammed his palm down on the table and the chess pieces scattered screaming in terror. Ron jumped and sat back in his chair in shock. He blinked and waited for Harry to explain his little outburst.

"Pull yourself together Ron!" Harry found himself yelling, "I've seen you surrounded by giant spiders, I've seen you facing a Death Eater ambush, I've seen you slowly dying from ingesting a lethal dose of poison, I've seen you shrug off never being able to speak again as if speech never really mattered to you in the first place and I've seen you wake up from an irreversible magical coma and _fucking_ smile! Who the hell are you because you definitely ain't my best mate?"

Ron glared at Harry and slammed his open palm onto closed fist and then pointed at him.

"Fuck you too!" Harry yelled as he jumped to his feet and toppled the table over.

Ron got to his feet and took a step towards Harry, his ears glowing bright red, he shook his head as he slammed his fists into his chest then grazed his fist down the side of his upper arm and made a gripping motion away from himself before gesturing at his own arms.

"So whose fault is it then Ron?" Harry said as he too stepped up to the nose-to-nose confrontation, "It's not your fault they can't take the scars away. It's not the healers' fault they can't take your scars away. It's not your family's fault they can't take your scars away so who is it you're so mad at Ron? Who?"

Ron turned away and kicked his chair across the ward before marching away and over to one of the barred windows.

"Are you blaming Hermione?" Harry yelled after him, Ron turned around and stared at Harry as if he was insane, "Neville?" Ron folded his arms and looked at Harry warningly, knowing exactly was coming next, "Me?"

Ron looked as if he wanted to smash something more then he'd ever wanted to smash something in his entire life and grabbed handfuls of his own hair in his fists and gave a silent growl.

"This sucks for you Ron and we all know it. You don't have to remind us every single minute of every single day y'know?"

Ron looked half amused and half murderous as his eyes widened and he threw his arms up with exasperation before managing to sign with sarcasm, something that greatly impressed Harry considering the circumstances. He rubbed his knuckles against his chest while rolling his eyes, putting his hand to his armpit with an overly dramatic pained grimace and then pointing at his eye and hitting himself on the chest. Then he made a sniffing sound and pretended to wipe his eyes.

"Yeah," Harry nodded defiantly, "You know what Ron it _does_ stink to come and see you like this and you do owe us all an apology but that's not the point."

Ron huffed and gave a shrug while throwing an annoyed smile at Harry.

"The point is we can all go home and leave you here. You have to live with yourself Ron and let me tell you you're impossible to live with when you're like this. You need to shake this off for your own bloody sanity Ron."

Ron made a 'pfft' sound with his lips at Harry's use of the word sanity in reference to his incarceration. Harry stood his ground and folded his arms. Ron stared at him for a moment before making an annoyed gesture at the closed door and then doing the grip and pull away sign again and then performing a dropping motion and then moving his hands outwards while splaying his fingers as if demonstrating a small explosion. Harry's anger left him just a little and he swallowed. His eyebrows that had been wrinkled with fury evened out into a sad frown and he relaxed his fighting posture.

"They took away everything you could break?" Harry said blankly.

Ron nodded and slumped down to the floor beneath the window, averting his eyes from Harry and looking at his feet.

"You just want to smash something?" Harry almost laughed as he approached Ron with caution.

Ron nodded again and snorted before smiling a little himself. He tapped his thumb to the side of his head before knocking his knuckles against his skull and stroking his chin with his finger and rubbing his hands together.

"If it makes you feel better then it's not stupid Ron, not at all, you're not shallow for needing an outlet for your frustration." Harry said sadly, "Bloody hell mate you can't scream so we can at least let you smash things up eh?"

Ron made a pinching motion away from his throat and rolled his eyes with a huff, the sign for 'I wish'.

"You don't have to," Harry said with determination before walking out of the secure ward and slamming the door behind him.

* * *

It was Neville Longbottom's day off and he was spending it with his nose in a healing textbook set upon Percy Weasley's desk at the ministry while the young translator spent his lunch hour taking notes about brain trauma, possession and thought burns. This was not a fun way to spend an afternoon.

"Are you seeing anything in all those note yet Percy?" Neville asked through a yawn.

"All I'm seeing is spots," Percy grumbled as he removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

"Me too," Neville groaned as he slammed the book closed and sat back in his chair, "and the only option I think we have left isn't an option at all."

"We have an option?" Percy said as he sat upright and pushed his glasses back on, "Since when did we have an option?"

Neville laughed and leaned forward over the desk with a shake of the head.

"It's just the only thing my sleep starved brain can think of and it's not going to happen. There's too many if's and it's not even ethical. Oh and we'd have to break the law too."

Percy blinked at Neville and nodded.

"I'm listening."

Neville stared at Percy in disbelief. Had he not said that breaking the law part out loud?

"He's my brother Neville," Percy said by way of clarification that he had understood everything the younger wizard had just said perfectly well.

Neville took a deep breath in before beginning.

"Well what we're dealing with is an old kind of magic that nobody can understand and no healers can treat."

Percy nodded.

"Ron was touched by something that put this foreign and very powerful old magic into his arms in the form of scars."

"Right," Percy nodded again.

"Scars that we can't take away."

"When do you get to the point and stop telling me things I already know?" Percy huffed impatiently.

"I'm explaining the exact circumstances we're dealing with here," Neville said as if demonstrating a spell to a first year in the D.A. when he ran it during his seventh year at Hogwarts, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Every magic, old or new, has it's opposite too. Ron had magic poured into him by something so old modern healing can't remove it or the scars it caused so what is the opposite kind of magic to that Percy?"

Percy looked into space for a fraction of a second before his eyes widened and he looked back at Neville.

"A thing or a person that can drain magic out of Ron."

"Exactly!" Neville said with a look of reluctant victory on his face, "Some _thing_ or some _person_ capable of draining magic and that modern wizarding cannot do anything to prevent because the magic itself is so old and rare. If it was in a person there would be nothing a healer could do other than..."

"Isolate them in an entirely non-magical environment." Percy said as he tried to get his head around every possible implication that needed to be considered with regards to this impossible plan.

"It's been the only thing I can come up with but the risks are too high," Neville sighed.

"He knocked Ron out while he was asleep once didn't he?" Percy frowned.

"Yeah," Neville nodded with a wince, "and Ron fainted on the spot when all the guy did was point at him. This plan, well it's not a plan but let's talk as if it is, would require the sapper to actually touch Ron's scars."

"It could kill him like that," Percy said as he clicked his fingers.

"It might not," Neville added, still talking entirely in theory he told himself.

"Ron's in a secure ward, the healers and the Aurors would never release him outside the hospital let alone allow him to go back to the clinic," Percy said thoughtfully.

"That's the illegal part isn't it? We'd have to break him out and sneak him all the way to Cumbria where we'd then have to break into the clinic because the nurse there knows he's forbidden to come back on medical grounds."

Percy began tapping the nib of his quill against the top of his desk absentmindedly as he pondered aloud just as Neville was doing.

"Persuade the sapper to drain only the foreign magic from Ron and stop before he gets hurt."

"And then face everybody and tell them that we risked Ron's life on a theory that may or may not have even worked," Neville sighed.

"And lose our jobs."

"And possibly go to Azkaban," Neville was shaking a little now.

"Or we could just keep at this," Percy looked back down at the book and the notes.

"Hoping the whole time that the Death Eaters don't get to Ron before we can find another way to heal him," Neville said, entirely unconvinced.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them.

"I'll do it," Percy said suddenly, his voice sounding raw and tremulous but determined at the same time.

"No Percy, I'm the one with healer training, it should be me, I'll do it."

"You'll never get to be a healer if you do it," Percy said firmly, "They'll throw you off the programme. You can't ruin your life and everything you've worked for Neville I won't allow it."

"And what about you?" Neville exclaimed, "the ministry is everything you've always wanted and you're finally working in a satisfying and useful area, helping a good man and a great minister. You can't throw away your future Percy. I could at least start over, I've only been out of school for a year, a clean slate shouldn't be that hard for me but you're different."

"He's my brother Neville, damn my future, I'm doing this for him."

"Yeah well he's my friend and you were right when you said healing was my life, it is, and what kind of healer would I be if I let a patient like Ron suffer in that bloody ward any longer than necessary when there was a way to cure him?"

Percy looked Neville in the eye and rose from behind his desk.

"I can just about rationalise risking Ron's life and ruining my own but I can't justify wrecking yours as well."

"You don't have to justify it Percy, it's my life," Neville said firmly as he too stood up and stared at Percy across the desk.

Percy's resolve seemed to shatter momentarily and he couldn't meet Neville's eyes.

"I only just got my family back, if this doesn't work..." Percy's voice broke.

"Don't think like that, it'll work," Neville said with determination.

"It could end up killing him."

"It could end up saving him," Neville said without hesitation.

"What if the sapper makes him worse? What if this plan ruins his life?"

Neville only had one thing to say to that.

"What life? If we do nothing what life does he have?"

Percy extended his hand across the desk and Neville shook it. They were both trembling.

"Tomorrow morning, early, I'm working on Ron's ward," Neville said clinically.

"I've got a 7AM visit booked before work, I wasn't going to use it, Ron's not normally up at that time."

"He will be, I'll explain it to him."

"D'you think he'll be up for it?"

Neville finally smiled.

"I think he'll be doing somersaults!"

* * *

The door opened and Harry levitated a huge sack into Ron's ward and dumped it on the floor with a grin. Ron had been sitting on the bed listening to music. He pulled the headphones off and gave Harry a quizzical smile. He twirled his index fingers skyward at either side of his head before pointing at the sack.

"This is a fantastic new game I've invented for people like you who have a fetish for destruction."

Ron sniggered and hopped off the bed as Harry rummaged inside the sack. He pulled out six empty butterbeer bottles and handed them to Ron.

"I want you to arrange them in the shape of a triangle at the far end of the ward for me okay?" Harry smiled.

Ron took the armful of bottles and smiled back with curiosity before carrying them to the very end of the long empty ward and arranging the bottles as he had been instructed. Harry reached inside the sack and pulled out the first of what were two-dozen ripe watermelons and began to toss it from hand to hand while Ron jogged back to his side and pointed at the melon with a shrug.

"We will be enjoying a match of melon bowling," Harry grinned, "and we will be keeping score so no eating your balls before you've tossed them."

Ron almost collapsed with laughter at this and clung to Harry's arm to support him as he recovered. Harry had never felt more proud of himself then he did at that moment.

The next hours was spent hurling every single melon Harry had managed to find down the ward and into the butterbeer bottles, shattering as many as the bowler could, before the melon exploded against the wall behind them. The next bowler would repair the bottles before taking their turn.

Soon they were trying all sorts of different techniques. Ron started it off by throwing one of the melons over arm like a shot putter, just missing the ceiling fan, and landing in the centre of the butterbeer bottles, smashing every one of them. Then the challenge was on. Harry seemed to want to better that effort by hitting the ceiling fan so it would slice the melon into six individual pieces that would each hit their respective bottle and break it into smithereens. Ron claimed this was impossible and then the game was forgotten and the new melon in a ceiling fan wager took over.

Harry didn't think he'd laughed like he had that afternoon in a long time, if he ever had at all, and when the mediwitch came in to tell him his visiting time was up she almost exploded with fury at the sight of her ward. Harry left Ron being ordered into the shower while she set about cleaning the fruit cocktail of a mess that was St Mungo's most secure ward.

Maybe things were going to be better for everyone now. Ron was himself again.


	12. Healing Touch

**Healing Touch**

The curtains were drawn around Ron's bed and he squinted as the powerful morning sunlight hit him full in the face, making him scrunch his eyes tightly shut. He rolled over in his bed and nuzzled his face into the pillow to drop back off and enjoy that dream he was having about Frisbeeing dinner plates the size of wagon wheels across Hogwart's great hall into the wall while McGonagall, Hermione and a large man in the shape of a Christmas pudding applauded. He sniggered to himself as he remembered the man and felt the need to return to his dream sleep and puncture that round man just to watch him whiz around like a rapidly deflating balloon.

"Get up Ron," a familiar voice said as he was given a rough shake.

Ron silently grumbled as he tried to ignore the obtrusive healer or medi wizard who wanted to disturb him so desperately.

"Up Ron, now, I mean it!" the unusually harsh voice of Neville was what made Ron open his eyes a crack to see his old classmate shoving shoes onto Ron's feet and tossing a sweatshirt into his face, "put that on."

Ron pulled the sweatshirt off his face and heaved himself up into the sitting position, rubbing his bleary eyes, and stared at Neville with great annoyance. He pointed at Neville and twirled his finger in tight circles at the side of his head.

"Yes Ron I'm crazy now get dressed we've planned a prison break," Neville said as he reached for a pair of jeans that rested on the back of a nearby chair and turned back to Ron's legs, "Oh bugger!" he said when he realised that he had to take Ron's shoes off again in order to put them on.

Ron yanked the jeans from Neville's grip, not at all happy with the idea of him fiddling around dressing his lower body at all, and shrugged while staring at him desperately.

"Me and Percy," Neville clarified as he yanked the shoes off and turned away so Ron could pull on the jeans, "we've worked it all out and we've got an idea on how to get those thoughts out of your body now come on!"

As Ron shuffled the jeans on the doors to the ward opened and Percy strode in, making a big show for the Aurors outside who seemed to find this early morning visit very strange indeed but could do nothing about it as Percy was booked in for this time.

"Ah Ronald, I knew you'd be up, just thought I'd sit with you while Neville discussed the new..." the door clicked shut and Percy pulled back the bedcovers, Ron was thankful he'd just buttoned up his flies in time, and began to wrestle the sweatshirt over Ron's head, "he was supposed to be dressed by now."

"Your brother's not a morning person y'know?" Neville snapped back at him as he set about putting the shoes back on him again.

Ron tried to sign his demand to be included in this plan but his arms were still somewhat constricted within the sleeves of his sweatshirt, the neck of which was forming a slight garrotte that was making him worry just a bit.

"Two Aurors, both huge, only one medi witch on duty, very old and been working all night so she's hardly alert," Percy reported.

"I told you didn't I?" Neville said as he freed Ron from the octopus of doom that was his clothing, "Ron are you deliberately being a hindrance this morning?"

Ron hurled himself out of his bed and raised both his arms to silence his would-be liberators. They both froze and Ron took a breath in and out before twirling both fingers skywards and gesturing to them both with a shrug.

"We're springing you Ron," Neville said with a completely straight face.

He looked to his brother for some sane explanation.

"We think we can help you get rid of Ravenclaw but it's not exactly legal or completely safe either."

Ron looked back at Neville again.

"We're taking you to Cumbria again but you're not really allowed to be there so that'll mean an illegal break-in," Neville nodded.

Ron looked at Percy, pleadingly.

"We need to get the sapper to drain her out of you...which hopefully won't kill you in the process," Percy said with a gulp.

Ron looked back at Neville, then Percy, and then Neville again before shaking his head to clear it. Percy stepped forward and gripped Ron's shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"We want you out of here, we want that price off your head and we want you well again Ron. We'll do anything to get all those things. We're both doing this for you and we could go to Azkaban for even trying it but it's worth it okay? _You're_ worth it."

Ron had never heard Percy talking like that before. He pointed at himself then crossed his arms over each other with his palm facing the floor and moving away from each other horizontally before putting his hand to the side of his head in a fist and then pointing a finger from the fist upwards.

"I know you don't understand Ron," Percy sighed before smiling, "but do you trust us?"

Ron returned Percy's smile before looking over his shoulder to and anxious looking Neville and nodding. Percy pulled Ron into a quick hug before giving him a look of sincere apology.

"We're going to have to fake a medical emergency to smuggle you out okay?" Percy explained before moving to stand behind Ron while Neville drew his wand and pointed it at him.

Ron swallowed, closed his eyes, and nodded.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of Neville shouting the sleeping spell at him.

_"Obdormio!"_

* * *

The fireplace exploded with green flames and Hermione staggered out of it in floods of tears. Harry was only wearing his boxers and was slightly abashed as she threw herself at him, spilling his bowl of cornflakes all over the floor in the process.

"Tell me he came home Harry please tell me he came home," she was sobbing as her legs buckled and Harry slowly lowered her onto the sofa while beginning to feel slightly sick.

"What do you mean Hermione? What are you talking about?"

"Ron," she said before her shoulders began to shudder and her lungs fought her sobs for the air in her body.

"Why do you think he's here?" Harry's voice seemed so thin and empty as he spoke and he realised that he was shaking violently.

Surely his worst nightmare hadn't come true.

"He's gone Harry!" Hermione wailed into her hands.

Again the fireplace exploded with emerald flames and Fred ran out with a livid look on his face and his wand drawn. As Fred stormed into Ron's bedroom without a word to the two of them the fire threw George out into their living room too.

"Where is he?" George snapped, face burning red with fury, "Where is the selfish little bastard?"

Fred charged back into the living room and glared at Harry.

"Where's he hiding?" he demanded.

Harry couldn't piece together any coherent sentences, he could barely string two thoughts together at that moment, and simpley shook his head as he stared up at the twins.

"He's here, he's got to be!" Fred snarled.

"That stubborn little bastard," George hissed to himself, "risking his own neck just to do a runner. I'm going to kill him!"

"He's not..." Harry began when the green flames erupted yet again and Charlie bounded out looking as if he had just been in a fist fight, Harry looked up at the new arrival and tried again, "He's not..."

"Here, I know he's not," Charlie said as he turned to the twins, breathlessly, "Something went wrong first thing this morning, they couldn't wake him and Percy and Neville took him to another floor for treatment..."

Hermione made a whimpering noise and the twin's faces, almost burgundy with anger just moments before, paled chalk white. Harry found that he was hugging Hermione, rocking her and stroking her hair without realising it, but shaking like a leaf himself.

"...and now we can't find them either. All three of them were taken," Charlie said while balling and un-balling his hands into fists and looking on the verge of explosion.

Fred made some kind of exclamation that was lost in a breathless exhalation as he put a hand to his face and closed his eyes. George sank down into the armchair silently, his eyes wide.

"I've been down Nocturn Alley, where you said you saw that gang that time, the Death Eater scum," Charlie said, still quite breathless as he pounded his fist into his palm, "I beat the shit out of everyone I could find and none of them know anything. At least none of them are telling."

Harry felt a sudden surge of adrenaline and leapt to his feet, Hermione being thrown backwards and being caught by George before she fell off the sofa altogether.

"Sorry Hermione," Harry said blankly, "I've just got to get dressed."

With that Harry marched purposefully to his bedroom and closed the door.

* * *

Ron led the way from the checkpoint, where the new security wizard thankfully didn't recognise him to advise him to turn back, and towards the clinic. Percy was getting more and more nervous all the way but Neville seemed to be elevated into an eerily calm state of detached confidence.

Ron turned to Percy and rubbed his knuckles down his upper arm, tapped the side of his head with his thumb, pointed to himself and then connecting the fingers of both hands and pulling them away from each other.

"I know Ron but don't worry about that for now okay?" Percy swallowed.

It was true that the healers would have noticed Ron was missing and that the Aurors would be on red alert at that very moment. There had been no note left explaining their intentions. No clues or hints as that might cause the clinic to lock down and keep them for completing their plan. It made Percy sick to be doing this to his family but as long as everybody thought that the Death Eaters had taken Ron there would be no need to send reinforcements to the clinic, at least not right away.

The three fugitives reached the top of the steep hill where the clinic was practically balancing and Percy pressed against the door, not holding out much hope for this to be their lucky day. It wasn't, the door was locked. Ron shoved his brother aside and put his hands together like saloon doors and swung one of them open before getting to his knees and feeling around the dirty ground. Percy and Neville shared an uneasy glance.

"You know where there's a spare key hidden?" Neville frowned.

Ron shook his head and kept on searching before making a sudden hissing sound and gripping his head. Percy bent down low and grabbed Ron's shoulders tightly while the sound of a girl screaming from within the clinic chilled him to the bone. Ron was feeling Jess vision from outside, this was getting so much worse now.

"Listen Ron, move away from the door, we'll try a window alright?" Percy said as he tried to drag his wincing brother away from the source of his discomfort but Ron shrugged him off and snatched up what looked like a paperclip from the overgrown tufts of grass that sprouted in between the cracks in the concrete. He pulled it flat before manipulating it into another shape and then fed it into the keyhole and began to wriggle it in a state of deep concentration.

Neville sighed and met Percy's eyes with a smile.

"The twins."

"What else have they been teaching you while I was away?" Percy found himself demanding of the back of Ron's head in his time honoured older brother kind of way.

Something clicked and Ron turned to look up at Percy with a wicked grin on his face and he turned the door handle and swung it open.

"Remind me to thank them later," Percy mumbled as he helped Ron back up to his feet.

"How are you feeling Ron?" Neville said as the sounds of Jess' screaming grew even louder now that the front door was no longer muffling them.

Ron nodded his head and gave the thumbs up. Percy and Neville both knew he was lying but didn't say any more about it. Ron set off along the corridor on tip toe, waving for Neville and Percy to follow on behind him and keep low. The three of them ducked under the window at the nurses station before running around the corner and over to a door where Ron stopped and gestured to with a nod.

"This is his room?" Neville confirmed.

Ron nodded again. Percy spun around as another door opened and the screaming grew so loud that it was as if Jess was only an inch away from his eardrum at that moment. Ron winced again and held his head. Neville grabbed him as he doubled over in pain and tried to hold him up.

"It'll pass soon Ron, I'm sure," he was muttering, "just ride it out. Not long now, I promise okay?"

Ron held his breath and gritted his teeth before giving a single nod. Percy looked back in the direction of the screaming and willed the vision to pass. The sapper was a big enough risk without the added trauma of Jess's trigger mechanism on Ron's involuntary possession. They heard heavy footsteps running and the three of them pinned their bodies flat against the wall. It wouldn't have done them much good if the passing nurse Stour had actually been looking their way but thankfully she was more occupied with helping the seer with her vision.

"Come on now Jess please, why aren't you letting go of this one? Why have you started holding all these things inside? Let it pass Jess, let the vision go!" Stour was begging her.

"No!" Jess wailed through her agonised sobs.

Ron pulled away from Neville momentarily but the young would-be healer yanked him back and shoved him back against the wall with both hands.

"No Ron," he barked forcefully, "you've got to look after yourself before you can start worrying about looking after other people!"

Ron swallowed and nodded. His eyes were becoming unfocused and he blinked the a few times before exhaling deeply and looking Neville dead in the eye and nodding again more confidently this time.

"Good," Neville said as he released Ron from his grip.

"No stop him," Jess was screeching at the top of her lungs, "Stop him please you can't let him do this. Stop it!"

Percy looked to Neville and they both nodded. This part of their plan wasn't going to go the way they wanted. In the original plan the clinic was peaceful and the occupants other than the night nurse were all going to still be sleeping. Now however they had to resort to plan 'B'.

"You stay with him," Percy said to Neville, "watch the door an don't let anyone past until you think it's done. Then you get him out and straight back to St Mungo's you hear?"

Neville nodded.

"Right, so I'll go running to Stour and tell her Ron's been taken and that I'm searching for him. I'll keep everybody away from this corridor as long as I possibly can. At least then if word comes to the clinic that they need to lock down because of Ron's abduction my story's all but confirmed. I'll just buy as much time for you as possible okay Ron?" Percy smiled at him brother who smiled and seemed about ready to pass out now.

"Ron?" Neville said as he tapped the side of the younger red head's face.

Ron smiled at him and gestured over his shoulder to the closed door before putting his finger and thumb to his eye and then pulling them apart.

"He's awake," Percy said as he understood that the sapper was already affecting Ron without even knowing it.

Ron took a deep breath, shook his head and slapped his face to wake himself up a little more and then grabbed the door handle. Percy's hand rested upon Ron's shoulder and squeezed very briefly before the brothers shared a smile.

"Don't make me regret trying this," Percy warned before running down the hall and disappearing around the corner calling out for nurse Stour urgently.

* * *

Mad Eye Moody's false leg thumped loudly as he paced up and down before the crowd of Aurors, Order members, DA volunteers and terrified Weasleys. Tonks and Lupin were holding onto Molly from either side as she shook violently. The thought of one child in mortal peril enough to stop her heart from beating but the idea of two of them in danger was too much for her to bear. Hermione and Harry were ready to run into battle, her having pulled herself together when she saw Harry's determined look as he emerged from his bedroom with his wand drawn and prepared for action, and were having to be calmed down by Bill and Ginny before they ran off and got themselves or Ron, Percy and Neville killed.

"Well, this is not what we first thought it was," Moody said gruffly and with no hiding his annoyance either, "Weasley going off his trolley and escaping I mean, and it is also not what we assumed it to be after that."

Moody stopped pacing up and down, the sound of his banging wooden leg seeing to punctuate his point and demand absolute silence.

"Weasley didn't not have a medical emergency, he was not taken by Longbottom and his brother to a treatment room at all, and the three of them went to the first place it was possible for them to disapparate from and did just that."

There was a collective gasp.

"You mean," Charlie said, not quite knowing who to be furious with at that very moment, "the three of them...planned it between them?"

"No," Arthur said, more to himself then to anybody else in the room, "why would they? Why would Percy?"

"Percy!" Fred said while sounding as if he had something lodged in his throat, "Maybe if it was one of us but Percy? No he'd never...He wouldn't break the rules."

Moody stamped his wooden leg on the floor noisily to render the Weasleys silent once again.

"And Longbottom wouldn't risk one of his patient's lives, especially not a friend so we are left with only one option," Moody declared.

"Unethical treatment," Hermione gasped as her hand covered her mouth.

"Exactly Miss Granger!" Moody said with a flourish of great annoyance, "They've managed to convince themselves of a way to treat Weasley that is not only illegal but of an incredibly high risk that the lad will even survive it."

Harry shook his head vigorously.

"No, no Neville would never do that."

"He _has_ done it Mr Potter! The portraits act as witnesses and they have testified that Weasley was revived in the seventeenth floor corridor beside the kitchens delivery hatch where apparition wards were down for that morning's shipment and the three of them disapparated of their own free will."

Something crashed behind them and everybody jumped to see Charlie punching his fist through a supply cupboard beside him.

"Bastard!" he roared.

"I'm gonna kill 'em," Harry seethed to himself, "if anything happens to Ron I am going to kill them."

"Miss Granger," Mad Eye began as he stomped over to Hermione.

Tonks moved in front of him and faced Hermione with a warm smile.

"Hermione," she said softly but with enough warning in her voice to Moody that yelling at Ron's distraught girlfriend would get them nowhere fast, "did Neville or Ron ever confide any theories to you? Any crazy ideas or fantastical treatments maybe?"

Hermione shook her head before looking to the floor.

"I hadn't been allowed to see him all week. He was upset about being locked up and we had an argument," she said with a whimper.

Ginny put her arm around Hermione and hugged her.

"Don't feel bad Hermione, you didn't stay away because you wanted to, it was medical advice wasn't it?"

"Longbottom's advice?" Moody barked over Tonks' shoulder.

The young Auror turned on the old pro and glared at him until her hair darkened to jet-black along with her mood.

"Actually it was mine," Healer Kalra said from the corner of the room, "and Mr Longbottom confided no theories or ideas to me over the past week, although he was doing a great deal of extracurricular research in his free time. I also recall seeing Percival Weasley a lot more in his company now I think of it."

Harry drew in a shuddering breath and shook his head.

"I'm going to kill 'em!"

"But," George began while Fred gave Harry a pat of consolation on the back that did no good at all it seemed, "why didn't Percy come to us? He knows we the big rule breakers in the family. Why weren't we let in on it?"

"Because this was an intellectual form of anarchy," Hermione said, suddenly sounding as clear and as furious as Harry was, "they were planning on doing something that could be harmful to Ron, hurt him or put him back into an irreversible coma or just plain kill him stone dead, and they were going to do it on an intellectual theory as if Ron's condition was a logic puzzle to be solved."

"They're going to risk him on an _experiment_?" Fred said in disbelief.

"They're just using him to see how bloody clever they are?" George said in a similar exclamation of denial.

"Now come on," Lupin said, attempting to be the calming voice along with Tonks in this pot of anger and fear that was about to bubble over, "neither one of those young men would risk Ron's life on a whim. I'm sure they thought that the only other option open to them, the option to do nothing and simply hope everything worked out, was more of a danger to Ron then their plan."

"Doing nothing," Charlie snarled through gritted teeth, "doesn't make my little brother's head bleed from the inside."

Molly burst into tears and Ginny shuddered while Charlie went on.

"Doing nothing doesn't expose Ron to Death Eater attack and possible torture."

Bill left his wife attempting to comfort his mother while shoving his way through the crowd to get to his livid brother.

"Doing nothing doesn't get his mind and body taken over by a dead witch who can kill a room full of people without a fucking wand!"

"Charlie shut it!" Bill said as he reached his brother and shook him by the shoulders, "Your way to keep him safe is to shove him in a room and lock the door while rampaging through dark wizard territory beating seven shades of shit out of everybody you come across with a dark mark. Hermione's way of keeping him safe is to work herself half to death looking for a way to cure those scars of his. The twins way of helping is to install all their best anti sneak products at every entrance to this bloody hospital for free to catch anyone attempting to get in and hurt Ron."

The twins flushed slightly at this, they hadn't been aware that anybody knew about that.

"It's because of them the Aurors caught Layton before he could get to Ron's ward and do Merlin knows what. Ginny is the glue holding this family together while we're tearing each other apart and I have been trying to keep my mother from going insane with worry while using every contact I have to try and obtain some medieval magical texts to give the staff here so that my baby brother can actually go home again at some point in his life!"

Bill's scars were twisting and contorting the more wound up he was getting while yelling at his brother.

"So Percy and Neville think they have a way to save him from driving himself nuts, and bleeding internally and being possessed. They think that can remove that colossal target from Ron's head and give him back what he has of his normal life and that's good enough for me Charlie. They want to help him and he went of his own free will, Moody said so, and I trust them."

Moody cleared his throat but Bill maintained his focus into Charlie's eyes.

"No offence but your brother was desperate enough to do anything, free will or not, that's no excuse," Moody said gruffly.

The doors to the ward burst open just as Charlie was about to speak and Kingsley Shacklebolt ran in panting heavily and brandishing a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Shacklebolt," Moody said as he thudded over to his colleague, "what is it man?"

"Found this amongst Weasley's notes at the ministry," the man wheezed.

Moody snatched the parchment out of his hand and read it quickly. Everybody was silent while they watched the Aurors face. When Moody finished reading he looked as if he had just received word that he was no longer allowed to punish dark wizards but simply give them a slap on the wrist and let them go free.

"Healer Kalra, is that your name?" he barked as his magical eye moved to focus on the healer while his normal eye stared from face to face as they all stared back at him.

"Yes Auror Moody, what is it you need?" Healer Kalra said, stepping forward.

"I need a team of your best healer's ready and waiting here for when we bring Weasley back. He'll need somebody for his brain, for his scars and he'll need as many people you can find with knowledge of ancient magic and magical replenishment. Strength replenishment too."

"Sir?" Kalra blinked, wanting more details on the condition he was being expected to treat.

"Your patient's about to be drained by a magic sapper," Moody said with disgust.

"No!" Hermione gasped as she clasped both hands over her mouth.

"That guy knocks him out just pointing at him," Harry yelled, "that guy knocked him out in his sleep!"

"Tonks, Kingsley, Lupin, and Bill seeing as you are keeping you head the best amongst the lot of you; you're coming with me to Cumbria right now. We're getting that boy back here before those bloody fools get him killed."

"I'm coming too," Harry said.

"No you're not Potter," Moody said gruffly.

"Whether I come with you or go there alone I'm going to Cumbria too," Harry said as he stepped forward to dare Moody to tell him what he could and couldn't do, "Ron's _my_ responsibility and I will not let him down again."

* * *

"He's burning, help him, he's burning him!" Jess' was screaming as Ron closed the door behind him and looked at the sapper as he sat up in his bed and blinked._He's burning me?_ Ron thought, wasn't it always a witch before? 

"What are you doing here? I told her not to bring you back. I told her what would happen," the sapper said as he ran his bony fingers through his messy dark hair.

"Don't let him come, don't let him in," Jess was wailing, he voice sounding so raw now that it must've been hurting her, "don't let him burn please!"

Ron pulled a chair up to the side of the sapper's bed and sat down before he fell down. This guy was making him feel dizzy just looking at him.

"Get out of here," he wizard snarled fearfully as he moved back until he was pressed right up against the wall, "I can't stop it from happening. I can't stop it draining you. Get out!"

Ron took a deep breath and shook his head, partially to clear it and partly to tell the sapper he wasn't going anywhere.

"Don't touch him!" Jess screeched, "Stop, stop, no!"

The sapper nodded over Ron's shoulder to the door.

"You hear that? She's telling you. I'll kill you and I can't help it. Get out before I put you back in hospital."

Ron leaned forward and blinked his hazy vision back into focus. He rolled back his sleeves and displayed his scars to the sapper. The man's dark eyes scanned the swirling scar patterns rapidly before looking up at Ron's face again.

"That's it isn't it? That's where the magic is."

Ron nodded.

"You were burned with magic?" the sapper frowned.

Ron pointed at his arms and then to his head and back to the scars again.

"Mind burns?" the sapper said as he tried to understand without the benefit of an interpreter.

Ron shrugged and nodded again. Ron trailed his finger along on of the scars that ran the length of his arm before putting both hands to his head and making a pulsing movement, opening and closing his hands at either side of his head, and then rubbing at the scars again and pretending to pull them away from the skin and toss them away.

"The scars are what's hurting your head?" the sapper confirmed he understood this correctly, "you need to get rid of the scars?"

Ron nodded so eagerly that his whole body swayed and he temporarily lost his sense of balance. He put a hand out to steady himself on the side of the bed and knew that if he didn't explain this to the sapper soon he would faint before Neville and Percy's theory could even be tried.

"I'll get a nurse," the sapper said as he tried to climb off his bed without touching Ron in anyway.

Ron moved to block him standing in front of the door so fast that he staggered into it more than anything else. The sapper looked scared now. This man wasn't a bad person, Ron could see it now, and he wasn't even grumpy really. He was just sick and tired of hurting people through no fault of his own. Ron found the need to speak to this man, lack of vocal chords be damned, and began to mouth as clearly as he could the words 'You can help me' while pointing from the sapper to himself.

"Help you die you mean," the sapper said, looking sickened, "I won't be a part of that. Find somebody else to assist your suicide."

Ron shoved himself away from the door to cross the room and follow the sapper. It was getting really hard not to just pass out now and he could barely even see straight anymore. The sapper turned around and jumped at the sight of Ron standing unsteadily right in front of him. Ron took a deep breath in and let it out before grabbing at his forearm with his other hand and making a pulling motion away from it while mouthing the words 'you take them'.

"It doesn't work like that," the sapper said as he rubbed his hand over his face, his stubble making a scratchy sound as he did.

"His skin! Jess screamed, "he's burning his skin, he's burning!"

The sapper gestured to the sound of Jess' voice as if she was proving the point he was trying to make. I felt the last of his strength inside of him and drew upon it for one last effort. He pointed at himself and mouthed 'I' then he crossed his hands over each other and moved them apart horizontally while mouthing 'have no' before just gesturing desperately with his hands around himself and mouthing 'life'. Then he held out both his exposed arms and looked the sapper in the jet black eyes and mouthed the word 'please'.

There was a scuffle outside now and somebody was shouting. Percy was yelling to Neville.

"Has he done it yet?"

"I don't think so," Neville was calling as he sounded like he was struggling with somebody.

"Don't let them in!" Percy was shouting.

"You don't know what you're doing!" nurse Stour was yelling while some other voices shouted and hollered over each other.

"Longbottom this isn't helping him!" the voice of what sounded like May-Eye Moody roared.

"Bill no," Percy was shouting down the corridor, "it's what he wants. You can't lock him up like that again you can't!"

Ron's desperate eyes stared at the sapper and he felt as if he was falling before he actually did. His eyes welled and he pleaded silently with the sapper one last time just as the door burst open and Neville leapt on Kingsley Shacklebolt's back to stop him interfering. The sapper took a deep breath and grabbed Ron's forearms with both hands.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Ron was blinded by white light and his skin felt as if it was being scalded for the fraction of a second he remained conscious. His knees hit the floor and he was lost to the blackness before the rest of him followed suit.


	13. Forgive and Take

**Forgive and Take**

Percy was running after the crowd as they rushed along the corridors of St Mungo's from the emergency floo fireplaces in the reception area. Ron was being levitated by Lupin while Bill ran ahead and cleared their way. Neville was practically sprinting alongside the stretcher, as it was going so fast, twirling his wand in small circles over Ron's still face and murmuring spell after spell continuously.

Neville had been overpowered and the 'rescue mission' as they seemed to think of themselves burst in just in time to see Ron hitting the floor and the sapper vomiting before running off down the hall pursued by two night porters and a fearful nurse Stour who were all trying to convince him that he wasn't in any trouble and that he probably hadn't just killed a man.

_Probably hadn't_, that 'probably' made Percy feel sick to the stomach himself.

"Get out of the way you rubbernecking idiots!" Tonks was yelling as several members of the public crowded around to see what all the commotion was about.

The black haired Auror pointed her wand at them and parted them like they were curtains. Ginny was standing at the end of the corridor with a cup of tea in her hand when she saw the group approaching and dropped it immediately before breaking into a run to meet them.

"Keep the girl away, there's no time for family hysterics!" Moody barked gruffly.

Bill cast him a slightly annoyed look before running on ahead and grabbing Ginny to hold her back and let them pass. Percy was still running behind, becoming more short of breath then he had felt when they were carrying Ron out of the non-magic zone manually, but picked up his pace nevertheless. As he passed Ginny he heard he crying into Bill's chest while Bill attempted to alleviate her worst fears.

"They killed him didn't they? You didn't get there in time and he's dead!" Ginny was wailing.

Percy almost heaved but managed to swallow it down again as he ran on and tried to block out the sound of his sister's voice. Percy saw Healer Kalra surrounded by about seven other healers and a dozen or so medi witches and wizards who took over the levitation and crowd control duties while Kalra seemed to assess Neville's current treatment and nodded his approval for the trainee to be allowed to continue uninterrupted until they were in a treatment room.

It was then that Percy felt himself being yanked backwards and then sideways into another room. The door he had just been dragged through slammed shut and candles flickered into life illuminating three figures standing before him. Moody, Minister Beckett who was in charge of intra department misconduct, and the worst face for Percy to see now other than that of his mother...his father.

"Mr Percival Weasley," Minister Beckett said as she stepped forward from the small group with a stern expression on her face and her lips twisted with such scorn there didn't seem to be any blood reaching them at all, "You are aware that we secured your brother upstairs for a very good reason are you not?"

Percy couldn't speak; he only nodded.

"You are also aware that by _liberating_ your brother from this hospital you have endangered his life?"

Percy felt the need to be sick again and tried to nod without losing his self control.

"Miraculously you haven't actually broken any laws. Are you aware of that?"

He shook his head and wondered if he was as green as he felt.

"Seeing as Mr Weasley, the younger, was confined for protective reasons instead of as a prisoner your recklessness and deceit will be going unpunished but you mark my words you will be dogged by this incident for the rest of ministry career and your chances of promotion within any department are now entirely non-existent. Do you have anything to say before I write up this verbal warning and submit it to your file?"

"Ijustwantedtohelphim," Percy garbled the words so quickly that it was like a verbal form of regurgitation instead of the physical one he was fighting so hard against.

"I've seen your family in the waiting room upstairs Mr Weasley," the minister said, now softening her tone just a little while remaining as fierce looking as ever, "I don't think I need to punish you anymore then you're going to be."

The witch turned and nodded at Moody before squeezing the worried father's arm very briefly and smiling at him sadly. She opened the door and looked back at Percy as she stepped through into the corridor.

"I hope your brother's alright Weasley."

With that she closed the door. Percy exhaled with a shudder and Moody stomped forward to glare at him with both his magical and normal eyes.

"Still got your job eh? Well at least that's the thing you value most of all saved isn't it?"

Percy opened his mouth to try and explain himself to the bitter Auror but he dismissed his efforts with a wave and thudded away to follow Minister Beckett out of the room.

"It's easy to convince a desperate man to do something stupid," Moody growled as he opened the door, "but how you convinced a good hearted young lad with his whole future helping people ahead of him to throw it away for an experiment is beyond me."

Moody stepped through the doorway and muttered one last thing as he closed the door.

"You've ruined two lives today."

Percy couldn't help but jump as the door banged on closing and he looked to his feet and tried not to just crumple in to a big mound of self pity and regret on the floor. He knew he owed it to his father to look him in the eye as he said what he had to say. He owed it to him but he just couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry father," he choked as he put his hand to his face and tried to control the wave of emotion that was juddering up from within him.

He heard his father taking a step towards him. His shoulders began to shake and the tears began to fall.

"He was never meant to be locked up day in day out," Percy tried to explain through his straining vocal chords as he let out a couple more involuntary coughs of emotion, "It was killing his spirit and we...we...I just wanted to do something to help."

His father was still moving towards him. Percy readied himself for the bellowing or the punch he so clearly deserved. He was shaking so violently now that he wasn't even sure he felt it when his father's hands rested so gently upon his shoulders. He plucked up the courage to look his father in the eye. As he did more tears squeezed out of his ducts and the man's face was a blur. He blinked his vision clear again and saw the face he'd caused so many of the lines in smile at him warmly but so incredibly sadly before the man pulled him close and hugged him tightly.

"I always knew you'd go to any lengths for Ron," his father was saying, "it was always Ron with you wasn't it?"

Percy just let the sobs go now and nodded into his father's shoulder.

"Even when you were the square peg in a home full of round holes you'd still give it away once in a while. I heard about how you behaved during the second task of the Triwizard tournament from Ginny. You knew it was only a game but you still lost you cool when Ron didn't come back within the hour. Ginny said you ran into that lake fully clothed and practically dragged him out by the scruff of the neck."

Percy felt his father chuckle ever so slightly as he retold the story. Percy was still shaking and the tears still fell but he was managing to calm himself down just a little more now and sniffed.

"I-I just..." he tried to explain everything he'd ever done in his life leading up to this point in it before giving up before he'd started his first sentence.

"Even when you disowned us all Ron was the last one you let go wasn't he?"

Percy nodded his head and closed his eyes, hating himself for what he had tried to make his brother do.

"You knew how he'd react, that'd he'd hate you and that that letter of yours would be the final nail in your coffin as far as he was concerned, but you still did it anyway. You still wrote to him to offer your support and tell him you were proud of him in your own, misguided way."

Percy pulled away from his father to meet his eyes again and nodded. He now saw that his father had tears in his eyes too.

"Ron was always yours wasn't he? He was your responsibility and the one who needed your protection from the twins and the spiders and all those times when he felt like nobody noticed him."

"I just wanted to look after him," Percy said, his eyes burning and swollen.

His father squeezed his son's shoulders firmly.

"I think this time you might have gone too far," he whispered as if the words were painful to say too loud.

"I think I might have done too," Percy said with a squeak.

His father gave him a pat on the back before turning to leave the room.

"I need to go and take care of the others, I left Charlie with your mother and they're both setting each other off in all the wrong ways," the weary looking man said before turning to cast one last smile Percy's way, "I understand why you did it, and I forgive you, but I really wish you hadn't son."

He turned that handle and walked outside without another word. The door clicked closed and Percy sank to his knees and hugged his arms to himself.

"Ron I'm so sorry. What have I done?"

* * *

Neville's voice was ragged from the non-stop spell casting all the way from the clinic until now, inside the treatment room at St Mungo's. He didn't even remember pausing for breath once. He must have done though; surely he'd be dead by now otherwise.

"Mr Longbottom step aside," Healer Kalra said as he shoved Neville to one side and took over the work on Ron's head while an medi witch pulled him away from the patient, as she called Ron, and handed one of the other healers a small bottle of potion.

"It was concentrated on the scars on the arm sir," Neville began to explain, "the sapper never once touched his head I swear. Ron knew not to let him do that and..."

"Get out Longbottom!" Kalra snapped suddenly, "Whatever your intentions were you should have come to me first and you should never have taken him from the hospital without permission."

"I know it was a risk but..."

"A risk?" Healer Kalra said with astonishment, "You are aware that your friend's been brain damaged aren't you?"

Neville's eyes opened so wide he felt as if they were about to pop out of his head.

"But...But it was his arms, the scars, that was all it was. He was only supposed to drain the foreign magic."

"And what if the foreign magic tried to hide in the brain Longbottom? What if there was still residual magic in the brain from the last possession? Get out of this ward before I get the Aurors to throw you out!"

Neville ran from the treatment room and ran straight into Harry.

"Oof! Watch where you're..." Harry was beginning to say before recognising Neville and looking absolutely livid, "You _bastard!"_

Harry pulled back his arm and thrust it forward to lay Neville flat on his back with a punch to the jaw. Several white spots appeared before his eyes and then even more black ones before his head began to make a whistling noise and he shook itto clear his vision just as Harry pounced upon his prostrate body and set about pummelling his stomach while roaring at him in fury.

"How could you do this to him you arrogant fuck?" Harry's eyes were red and his jaw was set with determination to make Neville hurt just as much as he was at that moment, "I'd just got through to him, we'd just been getting somewhere the day before and you just swoop in and convince him that this was his only hope?"

"Harry please," Neville sputtered through a swollen and bloodied lip, "They were going to get him eventually, we had to do something now before..."

"Kill him before the Death Eaters could, is that it?" Harry roared as he pulled Neville nose to nose with him by the front of his bloodied robes.

"No!" Neville protested.

Harry threw the battered boy who refused to fight him back down to the floor and scrambled to his feet to swing a kick into his body.

"You don't get to take chances with _my_ best friend Neville," he kicked him again, causing the young trainee healer to curl himself up into a protective ball, "You don't have the right to risk his life. You don't get to lose him. You don't decide to take him away from me! Me and Hermione and his family, _we_ decide what's best and what's worth the risk and what isn't you son of a bitch!"

Harry dropped to his knees and grabbed the front of Neville's robes again to slam him against the wall. The battered young man saw that Harry's eyes were pouring with tears while still burning with hurt and betrayal. He really seemed to have a lifetime of hate inside him that was about to be released at this worthy target.

"You don't know what you're doing Neville, you don't understand what you're messing with, and you didn't bloody care for one second did you? You just wanted to play the bloody hero again. Swoop in and save the day and work a miracle like you did with his coma. You wanted to protect your so-called-mate so badly that you almost ended up killing him and that's not for you to do Neville. That's not your decision to make. You don't get to be the one that kills him, _I do!"_

Neville was panting and swallowing the mouthful of blood that filled his mouth from his split lip when Harry spoke those last words and then froze in shock. He was still forcing Neville bodily into the wall so hard that he was practically in the next ward but his face was as shocked as if he'd just stepped out of his body and seen himself as somebody totally different, somebody he hated. His green eyes were wide open and his breath was ragged. Harry's hands were pale and shaking but they still clung to Neville's robes as if he was afraid of what he might do if he let him go.

"Har-Harry?" Neville wheezed before coughing and looking fearfully at his shocked friend.

"I killed him," Harry whispered with a shudder.

Neville put one of his hands around one of Harry's fists and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Harry what are you...?"

"I killed him Neville," Harry said blankly before releasing his grip and falling backwards onto the cold hard floor and putting his hands to his face, "it was me."

Neville crawled forwards and tried to get Harry to look at him but he was shaking his head and trembling all over. Neville looked up and down the corridor for somebody to call for help. Harry was going into delayed shock about something. What was he saying? Harry hadn't even been there at the clinic. How was this his fault?

"I could've stopped it. I could've fought it but I didn't. I could hear him pleading with me, he was begging me and I could hear Voldemort and I listened to him instead. I killed him."

"Harry no," Neville said as he gripped the shaken wizard by the shoulders, "you didn't kill him. He didn't die."

"I killed him Neville!" Harry's hand dropped from his face and he looked up with such devastation that it chilled Neville to the bone, "I took him away. I didn't fight hard enough for him and I didn't stop in time and I did it."

"Harry please, don't go like this again, don't go back the way you were before. This was my fault okay? It was my idea, Percy's and mine so it's our fault_. We_ did it and he won't die. Kalra's brilliant, I promise you Harry he won't let him die."

"You both tried to save him!" Harry yelled hoarsely, "You were trying to fix yet another one of my messes Neville. Those bloody scars are my fault too! I'm killing him Neville and you were just trying to stop it. You were trying to clean up my mess!"

"Stop it!" Neville found himself growling with frustration and annoyance.

"I killed him Neville, it was me!" Harry cried before dropping his head into his hands again.

"I just keep hurting him over and over again. He's my best friend and I keep on hurting him. I cut him," Harry was almost wheezing now.

Neville gritted his teeth and dragged Harry up to his feet to shove him against the opposite wall.

"No more of this crap Harry, I mean it!" he demanded, "Ron can't tell you to shut up and knock some sense into you so I'm going to have to do it for him."

Neville gave Harry a backhanded slap across the face before shoving Harry back into the wall again and shouted into his shocked face.

"I knew the risks and I knew he could get seriously hurt and might even die but I made the decision to bring this option to Ron and you know why I did that don't you Harry?"

Harry swallowed and nodded.

"Because Ron would rather go out fighting and free then a fish in a barrel waiting to be shot!" Neville roared before releasing Harry and pacing away from him, back and forth across the corridor, "We all knew he could die and we did it anyway and I'm sorry Harry. I deserve to be thrown out of here and I deserve to get what's coming to me and I deserve whatever the hell the Weasley's are going to do to me for this. You don't deserve any of this punishment Harry because you have never done anything reckless with Ron in your whole life."

"Are you kidding me?" Harry snapped.

"No I'm not. All you ever do is try to go it alone to protect people. All you've ever done is put other people first. I saw the look on your face when you were about to go into that lake to get Ron that time. You would do and have done everything in your power to keep him safe and well and you are the reason he's alive. You didn't cut him fatally and _that_ was what Voldemort told you to do!"

Harry blinked. Neville just said Voldemort's name.

"I still cut him," he said with a hollow tone.

"You didn't kill him."

"I didn't kill him," Harry said blankly as if saying the words parrot fashion rather then understanding them.

Neville took a step back towards Harry and looked him in the eyes. Harry's face scrunched up tightly and tears squeezed their way out of his tear ducts and rolled down his cheeks before he opened them again and shook his head as if regaining himself.

"I can't," Harry said quietly, "I could never...If I he died I'd never be able to..."

"Don't Harry," Neville said firmly.

"I couldn't go on without him Neville. He's like my brother and my best friend and my right and left arm...and I've spent too much time watching him die."

"He isn't dead Mr Potter," the voice of Healer Kalra said from outside the door to Ron's treatment room.

Harry almost fell over in his haste to get to the healer who was looking at the state of the two bloodied friends. Harry wasn't really bloody, he was just spattered with Neville's blood, but it was pretty clear that the two of them had been fighting.

"What is it? Is he going to be okay? Did it work? Is he in another coma?" Harry blurted.

"Calm down Mr Potter, come with me up to the waiting room so I can tell everybody together," the healer said as he put a guiding arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Tell me now!" Harry demanded as he shook off the healer's touch.

Neville gripped Harry's shoulder and pulled him away from the healer.

"Harry let the man do his job," Neville mumbled sadly.

Healer Kalra looked at Neville and sighed.

"Longbottom you are going to be suspended until a proper enquiry can be held but you are not banned from the hospital in any way, you may join us if you wish, I can fix you up to you look quite a mess."

Neville wiped his bloody chin with the back of his hand.

"Thank you sir but I don't think the Weasley really want to see me right now do you?"

Harry cast Neville a sad sideways glance before looking back at the healer and taking a deep breath in and out.

"Please tell me sir?" he asked the healer.

Kalra took a step toward them both and lowered his voice.

"Mr Weasley had the invading magic drained successfully from both arms. Unfortunately, due to the instances of possession by the foreign thoughts, some of that magic resided in Ron's mind as well as his arms and when the sapper's power was done draining that area it flowed up into Ron's brain and caused quite a bit of..."

Neville swallowed and pleaded silently with anybody who was listening to prayers right now not to let the healer say the word 'damage'.

"...disruption," Healer Kalra sighed as he met Neville's eyes before continuing, "When the sapper's power tried to extract the thoughts there were some side effects amongst the vital functions of Ron's brain. We've managed to remedy most of them but it's left his heart quite weak and we're still having trouble with the effect the draining had upon his immune system."

"What's up with his immune system sir?" Neville said fearfully.

"It thinks he's ill," Kalra said simply, "It's attacking healthy organs and tissue, it's fighting blood cells as if they are toxins and we're having a lot of trouble trying to convince his brain that he's healthy and to stop fighting his own body."

"You can fix it though right?" Harry said with a slight crack in his voice.

"We believe we can reverse the process and strengthen the part of the brain that maintains the heartbeat yes," the healer nodded with a smile.

"You _believe_?" Harry said with a slight wave of panic.

"It's looking good Harry," the healer smiled more convincingly now, "I really think we've all been very lucky with this but I don't want to count my chickens okay?"

Harry nodded but Neville felt sick, Ron was alive on sheer luck and nothing else. That wasn't good enough. The risk wasn't supposed to have been that high. This should never have been such a close call. If he'd have known how badly the draining of the magic was going to go he might have had to re-think his devotion to the 'this is worth it' sentiment.

"So all Ravenclaw's magic is gone now?" Neville asked

Healer Kalra's head dropped and he gave a single shake of the head.

"I assume the sapper felt the destructive effect upon the brain and stopped before all the residual thoughts were out of Mr Weasley's head. She's still in there, just barely but she's there, and there's no way to force her thoughts out of his mind without damaging it. This is as close as I think Ron's ever going to get to being free of her. I'm sorry."

Healer Kalra sighed and walked away from them both to go and break the news to the Weasleys.

* * *

Percy was still in a crumpled heap on the floor. His head hurt from all the crying and thinking and banging against the wall behind him he was doing. He had been in that room since his father had left him to go and take care of the others. Percy wondered if there was news of Ron yet. He wondered if Ron was still being treated or if he was healed or if...

...No he wouldn't allow himself to think that.

The door clicked open and two red headed figures stepped inside and closed the door behind them. One flicked his wand and locked it while the other cast a silencing charm on the whole room before walking across the floor to look down at Percy on the floor.

"Just do it, I don't care," Percy mumbled to the twins as he braced himself for his punishment.

Fred crouched down before Percy and looked at his puffy eyes and snotty nose.

"He's not dead Perce," he said as softly as Fred was capable of speaking.

"He's not?" Percy said with a wave of relief that almost made him pass out.

George stood behind Fred and smiled very slightly.

"He's got some problems, side effects that are a bit dodgy but when the healers fix him up he'll be okay," George said.

"Side effects? Dodgy, what does dodgy mean?" Percy said as he say up and looked from one twin to the other.

Fred swallowed and looked to George before turning back to Percy and explaining Ron's condition to him. Percy felt the blood leave his face at the mention of Ron having a weak heart. There were other things about an immune system on the attack but all Percy could take in was that the sapping worked up to a point until it came to removing the magic from Ron's brain where the sappers magic began to harm Ron and he had to stop before the job was done.

"So she's not gone, she'll never be able to be removed, and he'll be a target forever now?" Percy said weakly as he put his hand to his head despairingly.

"Not necessarily," George said with some small hint of optimism in his eyes, "Moody thinks Lupin's idea could work."

"Yeah," Fred nodded, "Lupin reckons that the Death Eaters have intelligence in St Mungo's somewhere and they would have reported that Ron was removed, underwent a procedure to get rid of Ravenclaw for good and then came back half dead."

Fred looked away as soon as he realised what he had just said.

"Anyway," George said as he crouched beside his brothers and put a hand on Fred's shoulder to tell him not to worry about the slip of the tongue, "Lupin said that all healers involved are to casually mention to as many colleagues and staff around the hospital as possible that Ron was successfully drained of all memories. He might even be able to go back to work Perce."

Percy looked up and felt that tiny well of hope in the pit of his stomach begin to swell.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded enthusiastically, "the traces of ravenclaw are so tiny now that the sapper shouldn't effect him in the same way and Jess won't be able to draw out a full scale possession again. This is all in theory right now but..."

"...theories are good," George nodded with a smile.

Percy scoffed at this sadly.

"How can you say that when my _theory_ nearly killed him?"

Fred grabbed Percy's arm tightly and stared into his eyes with determination.

"Ron's off the secure ward Perce..."

"...he's got the chance of a life again..." George nodded.

"...and you and Neville gave that back to him." Fred finished.

Percy frowned at his brothers, his oldest foes, and tried to understand what was going on.

"But...So you don't...You...?"

"We don't hate you Perce," Fred smiled.

"Charlie's going to kick the living shit out of you," George said with a carefree shrug, "Bill's not impressed at all and Ginny, well..."

"Watch your back with her that's all I can say," Fred warned.

"But you did what you thought was best for him and he obviously thought it was best too. It was what he said he wanted right?" George asked.

Percy nodded as he remembered the look on Ron's face as he unlocked the door, that cocky little look of triumph he would get when he was about to make his last move in a game of chess, and smiled to himself.

"He used your lock-picking technique to get us in there," Percy said to the twins, "So technically you're accessories."

Fred and George looked at each other and beamed.

"Accessories to anarchy we can live with," Fred nodded to his twin.

"Too right," George agreed before looking back at Percy, "and now you're one of us reckless wankers the family just love to despair of."

"Welcome to the club," Fred grinned, as he extended his hand for Percy to shake.

"We watch each other's backs, if they turn on you, they're turning on us too," George said matter-of-factly.

Percy couldn't believe that they didn't hate him. This was the perfect excuse for them to turn the whole family against him and declare that they were right about him all along. He was unable to understand why they would be, quite literally, extending the hand of friendship to him after all this.

"You can't be forgiving me," Percy said warily, "I don't even forgive me!"

Fred forced his hand into Percy's and shook it, George clasping his own over both, and spoke firmly and clearly and more seriously then Percy had ever heard him in his life.

"I was going to kill you when I first found out but while we were waiting and that woman from the ministry showed up to find out what you'd done and plan disciplinary action I knew, we both did, right then and there that you'd risked everything you cared about on this plan. You were going to throw away your career and your status and your contacts and you'd done it for Ron, to spare him one more day as a target or a prisoner. You weren't being an arrogant intellectual doing a test on his own brother, you were being a brother."

Percy couldn't let himself tear up in front of the twins but it was getting really difficult not to.

"You were being selfless Perce," George said with a nod, "you were giving up everything, your family and your standing in the ministry to save Ron. They might not see it that way, they might never see it that way, but we do."

Percy lost his composure and flung himself at his brothers sobbing and they caught him and patted him on the back without a single snigger or jibe.

"I thought I'd killed him!" he choked.

"Nah Perce, you saved him."


	14. Double Strike

**Double Strike**

Hermione had to hold Ron's hand tightly in her own in order to force him to stop signing in defence of Percy and Neville. Every time Healer Kalra stopped by to assess Ron's condition and administer another strengthening solution he would begin to plead Neville's case. He had become so worked up the last time that the healer had to sedate him for the sake of his weakened heart.

Ron was still groggy now as he looked at Hermione and gave as much of a smile as he could manage at that moment.

"Stop worrying about everybody else being in trouble and take it easy okay?" Hermione said softly to him before leaning forward and kissing his lips gently and squeezing his hand even tighter then before.

Ron's eyes were closing as the door creaked open and Hermione looked up and pressed her finger to her lips to tell them to keep quiet. Ron hadn't been disturbed and was now completely asleep. She looked back up at Harry who was walking across the room as lightly as he could and shared a pained smile with him.

"How's he doing?" Harry whispered, nodding down to Ron.

"Still trying to keep Percy and Neville out of trouble," she shrugged sadly, "he's a little doped up right now though so it's easier to subdue him. He's just dropped off again."

"I thought Kalra said he didn't want to give Ron any potions or magical sedatives because of his heart," Harry frowned anxiously.

Hermione sighed, he was right about that, Ron really shouldn't be taking anything that would slow his heart rate down any more then it was but when he was fully alert he was putting his body under too much stress by getting himself worked up with all the signing he was doing to defend the others.

She didn't really know what she thought of Neville and Percy right now. At the moment his parents, Bill to a certain extent and miraculously the twins, were supporting Percy too, but Charlie and Ginny were still furious with him. It was only the twins' involvement that kept Charlie from beating Percy to a pulp whenever he saw him. Neville was about to attend a hearing; with a hastily scribbled testimony that Ron insisted he be allowed to write on his behalf, to assess his future as a healer. Hermione hadn't been able to help herself when she first saw her fellow trainee after this whole mess, she slapped him across the face good and hard but there was something in the way Neville just took the hit with resignation and almost pleading with her to give him worse that made her melt and hug him right after.

Harry and Neville had fought, she knew that, but they were now supporting each other as if stronger then they ever were before. Harry had confided in Hermione the previous evening that he had finally let go of the last of his guilt for what he did to Ron. He realised that if he could forgive Neville and Percy then he could forgive himself too. If he went on hating himself he would have to hate them too and he just couldn't hate Neville, it was impossible.

Kalra still felt let down by his star student but didn't want to lose him from the program at the same time. Everybody who was supporting Percy felt they should support Neville to an equal degree but Ginny was much more understanding of him then she was with Percy. She probably knew something of what went on between him and Harry. Charlie was of course the one baying for blood. He demanded Neville be kept away from Ron's room and had threatened him quite frighteningly when they met in the corridor the previous morning. Charlie seemed to be channelling his fear and worry into violent rage and he was up and down Nocturn Alley every day beating dark wizards for information of what they knew and if there was still an order to bring Ron in.

"Have you eaten?" Harry whispered across Ron's bed to Hermione.

"Don't start," she whispered back as she rolled her eyes and nodded towards Ron, "he's already been on at me."

Harry smiled and looked back at Ron's sleeping face.

"If you really want him to relax you've got to start looking after yourself Hermione. You can't boss him around while looking fit to drop, he won't let you get away with it."

"I know," she smiled as she let go of Ron's hand and moved her own up to the side of his face, "it's just hard to chew and worry at the same time."

Harry chuckled and motioned over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Go on, get out, I'll sit with him."

Hermione reluctantly got up from her chair and winced as it scraped noisily on the floor. Ron fidgeted on his bed and rolled over onto his side before lying still once again. Hermione watched him anxiously for a few seconds before leaning over and planting a kiss on his cheek. She stood up straight again and looked at Harry with her 'healer' face on.

"You mustn't let him roll onto his front Harry, wake him up if you have to," she ordered.

"Hermione I know," Harry scolded as he reached out to try and pull her towards the door but she had moved out of his reach, "just go will you?"

He smiled at her but she was still fretting about leaving him without immediate medical care on call.

"And if he seems to be having any discomfort or in any kind of pain," she was saying while walking backwards to the door, "you've got to lie him flat on his back and elevate..."

"I know all of this Hermione, you've told me many times already, don't worry. I'll get him to roll back over in a minute okay?"

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. She took one last look at Ron's back as the door creaked open and she stepped through it without another word.

* * *

The tribunal were waiting for Neville with very stern expressions on their faces. Healer Kalra was amongst them as the all sat along one side of a long mahogany table with a single chair on the other side. The Chief medi witch gestured to the vacant chair before shuffling the notes she had before her. Beside her and at the centre of the table was the Senior Healer of St Mungo's, Healer Ambrose, an elderly looking man who had been healing for almost sixty five years at St Mungo's and was now the highest ranking healer in the history of the hospital.

Healer Ambrose was very tall despite his years, he had a bulbous nose and very thin white hair, but a kindly face even when he was disgruntled, as he seemed to be now. Neville had heard the man laughing with a patient on his very first day at the hospital and thought it was a visiting Father Christmas impersonator on the children's ward. The man had the greatest booming laugh Neville had ever heard and for that very reason he liked the man. He hoped that he wouldn't get to see the man's bad side.

"So you are here to put forward your case before we come to your decision about your future here," Ambrose said as Neville sat down.

"Um yes sir," Neville said nervously.

"You took a patient who was suffering from undeterminable brain trauma and under high risk of attack from Death Eaters from his secure ward and to a non-magical area in the North west of England," Ambrose read from his own notes while the chief medi witch looked over her pages at Neville for his response.

Neville glanced at Healer Kalra who gave him a nod.

"Yes sir I did," Neville replied shakily.

"You then proceeded to break into a non-magical clinic and persuade one of it's patients, a magic sapper you knew to be a danger to your own patient Mr Weasley, to perform an extraction process in order to relieve your patient of the cause of his brain trauma."

"Y-Yes," Neville stammered as he lowered his head.

This all sounded so much worse when he said it. Neville hadn't thought it would have been possible to make his actions appear any more reckless but Healer Ambrose was doing it very well.

"You then administered non-magical treatment to Mr Weasley as soon as this procedure was stopped and continued with it until the patient was safely inside one of our treatment rooms here is that correct?" Ambrose said as he finally looked up from the notes.

"That's right sir," Neville said, his voice barely even audible.

Healer Ambrose turned to Healer Kalra now.

"I have here your statement of events of course but, just to simplify things for the tribunal Nadeem, could you tell us what your opinion of Trainee Healer Longbottom's treatment of the patient during transportation and especially during the time when magic was not permitted?"

"Yes sir," Healer Kalra nodded, "well as I say in my statement I believe that Mr Longbottom's immediate actions as soon as the patient collapsed after the unorthodox procedure was performed most definitely saved his life."

Neville blinked and gaped at his mentor, who was resolutely refusing to meet his eyes and maintained his focus upon Healer Ambrose.

"You feel he contributed to the patient's recovery?" the chief medi witch asked as she made a note on the parchment in front of her.

"Indeed I do," Healer Kalra nodded, "I spoke to the Auror team that was in attendance and also to nurse Stour at the Cumbrian clinic and all agree that Longbottom's actions during the transportation out of the magic-free zone and during the transfer to St Mungo's kept Mr Weasley from going into cardiac arrest and keeping the internal bleeding from forming any fatal blood clots on the brain."

"As far as I can see from the post treatment results here there was no clotting on the brain at all," Healer Ambrose said as he scanned his notes.

"No sir, Longbottom kept them all from even appearing in any significant way," Healer Kalra said before finally looking at Neville, but only very briefly.

"And your assessment of Longbottom's overall treatment of Ronald Weasley?" the chief medi witch asked as she sat back in her chair and shoved the papers away from her.

"I believe that the chance taken was a foolish one and should definitely have been brought to a senior healer before any action was taken," Kalra said sternly, "however, the invading thoughts that were causing Mr Weasley's condition to deteriorate were almost totally eradicated from him, stabilising his original condition, and while unforeseeable complications arose I believe we can handle the treatment required with much more ease then we were handling the problem the patient was presented to us with."

Neville felt his head buzzing. Was he being disciplined or commended? He gripped the arms of his chair and watched as Healer Ambrose stroked his chin and considered the notes before him for several seconds.

"What are the tribunal's thoughts as far as action then?"

A healer with a turban at the far end of the table cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Probationary reinstatement, no second chances, any little mistake results in termination," he said before sitting back and folding his arms.

The witch sitting next to him clicked her tongue several times before scowling at Neville and shaking her head.

"Blatant disregard for the rules, the law and more than anything the patient's life, I'm not happy for this boy to even be considered for reinstatement at this hospital."

Neville felt himself sweating and looked to the next person on his inquisition, a witch with long black and blue braids in her hair and skin the colour of black coffee, as she began to speak her view.

"Well the way I've heard it you admitted a patient who was getting gradually worse by the day and suffering from a condition we couldn't cure. He was a target for dark wizards who would probably have attacked this hospital to gain access to him and the patient's mental health was suffering as a result of his unwilling incarceration in our secure ward for his own protection. Longbottom took a bold chance with both a family member's consent and the consent of the patient himself. Now the patient is suffering from serious problems but they are problems we are able to treat. His original complaint has all but been eradicated and he has since supplied this tribunal with a handwritten statement commending Mr Longbottom's actions. I don't believe this trainee has even done anything warranting this whole hoopla. Let him get back to work."

Neville might have blurted out that he was in love with the healer had his heart not been lodged in his throat forbidding him to make any sound other than a strained squeak.

The next up was the chief medi witch who puffed her cheeks out and exhaled deeply before looking at Neville appraisingly and then shrugging.

"He's covered with family and patient consent, she's right there. I'm not happy about the risk that was taken but the patient has improved and this boy is clearly a talented young healer. I don't want to lose somebody like that. Probation sounds fair to me."

She looked to Healer Ambrose beside her who turned to look at the wizard to his left and raised his eyebrows for their verdict.

"Legally he's not done anything wrong. Ethically he's walked a fine line but stayed on the right side. Personally I like the kid. Probationary period of six months to a year then all records of this black mark be erased from his file."

Neville's eyes were growing wider and wider as this agonising process went on. He looked to the next person on the panel, Healer Kalra.

"This young wizard reversed an irreversible magical coma with me on the same patient recently. Not one member of this tribunal gave that boy a hope of even waking up and Longbottom worked tirelessly to convince me to keep modifying our spell until it worked. I can't lose a healer like that. The very patient he's supposed to have been reckless with would still be unconscious downstairs with no hope of recovery if it wasn't for him so I say let him return to my service. Probation or not, I don't care, I'll take him."

Neville felt himself sway on his seat. He tried to express his gratitude to Healer Kalra but his face couldn't express anything other then frozen terror. There was one last witch on the tribunal who sat back and folded her arms.

"No I'm sorry but saving a patients life doesn't mean that healer then has the right to be reckless with it. He isn't even qualified; this could've been disastrous. Probation of five years minimum in my opinion and I really recommend a lengthy suspension before he is allowed to return to commence his training at all. Give him time to reconsider if he's really cut out for this job."

Neville gulped and looked back to Healer Ambrose along with every other member of the tribunal. The Healer cleared his throat and looked at Neville with that warm smile of his.

"I understand that this patient wasn't just a patient but a very close friend of yours. I am aware that you had full consent and your treatment, while dangerously unpredictable and resulting in potentially fatal side effects, was a success. You treated a condition that was untreatable. You did it the wrong way. I do not approve of your methods and I do not approve of your justification. I have to admire your post traumatic care however."

Healer Ambrose tapped his finger repeatedly on the table thoughtfully for a few seconds before frowning and rising from his seat.

"He stays, Kalra he's yours to do with what you wish. Probation indefinitely until I say it ends or I die."

The other members of the tribunal looked stunned at how abruptly this session had ended. Healer Ambrose was already walking for the exit as he made his declaration over his shoulder. On reaching the door Ambrose turned and beamed that wonderful warm smile of his at Neville and shrugged.

"Cheer up boy, I'm old, I could die any day now!"

* * *

Ron was fidgeting in his bed and looking a little pale. Harry called for a medi witch to come and check on him and she smiled and told Harry that it was just the problem with his immune system flaring up again.

"He feels hot," she said as she put her hand to his forehead, "his body's probably tricking itself into raising his temperature."

She pulled out her wand and twirled it around Ron's head three times, a lilac mist settling around his head before sinking into his skull altogether, and then she put her wand away and winked at Harry.

"That'll tide him over until I fetch him a potion to bring his temperature back down. I should only be gone for five minutes but if anything seems to be wrong..."

"...I'll be here Madame Bahn," Hermione's voice said from the doorway.

"Oh hello dear, you're back, I'm just off to fetch some Karvolinctus. I've stopped his brain from sending out the wrong signals but he still needs something for the reaction."

"I understand," Hermione nodded with a smile as she passed the woman on her way to return to Ron's bedside.

The medi witch left the room and Harry smiled at Hermione as she sat down and felt Ron's head with a frown.

"Trying to burn yourself up again eh Ron?" she sighed before trying to roll him back over onto his back.

"Before you say it, I've laid him flat twice already, he keeps rolling over like that. I think he's just trying to get comfortable," Harry said sympathetically.

As Ron was half pushed and half rolled of his own free will back onto his back he opened his eyes and made a fist with his thumb and little fingers extended and moved it downward.

"See!" Harry smiled at Ron's confirmation that that was exactly what he wanted.

"Hello there," Hermione smiled down at Ron who grinned lazily up at her, "You've got a potion coming your way I'm afraid."

Ron grimaced before moving his hand past the other in an upwards direction and waving goodbye to Hermione.

"You're not going anywhere!" she chuckled at Ron's weary declaration that he was leaving.

Ron started to heave himself upright into a sitting position but Hermione tried to push him back down flat. Ron huffed while Harry sniggered. Hermione scowled at her difficult patient who was signing that he was bloody sick of looking at the ceiling. Ron eventually came up with a winning argument for her to let him sit up. He held both hands before his stomach, pointed with his finger from his mouth downwards to his stomach and then gestured to himself laying flat on the bed.

"He does have a point Hermione," Harry nodded, "How's he supposed to swallow the potion like that?"

Hermione sat back down with an annoyed huff and Ron shared a chuckle with Harry who helped him sit up properly.

"It's just easier on his heart if he lays down that's all," Hermione muttered moodily.

"Well I'll whip the pillow out from behind him and sit on his chest if he has so much as a twinge okay?" Harry teased.

"Harry sitting on the chest of somebody with a heart condition is..." Hermione began to gabble in a flustered state.

Ron clamped his hand over Hermione's mouth while rolling his eyes to the ceiling and shaking his head. Hermione pulled away from Ron's enforced censorship and scolded him with just her eyes. Ron gestured to Harry and then jiggled his thumb and forefinger beneath his chin.

"I know he was only joking but still..." Hermione protested before Ron pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips over hers to shut her up.

Harry snorted.

"How come when I try that with Ginny she still keeps talking?"

Ron and Hermione found this so amusing that they had to abort their kiss due to the fact they were now giggling into each other's mouths more than anything else.

As the newly reconciled couple turned to grin at Harry, Hermione perching herself on the edge of Ron's bed and Ron curling his arm around her waist, the door clicked open and Harry turned around expecting to see the medi witch returning with Ron's potion. Instead it was Neville.

The smiles faded from everyone's faces immediately as soon as they saw the look on his face. He was pale and sweaty and seemed to be in shock. Hermione made a whimpering groan of sympathy and Harry rose to his feet to guide Neville into his chair.

"Oh no Neville what happened at the tribunal?" Hermione asked sadly.

Ron shook his head and the gripped his hands into tight fists and pulled them downwards before gesturing around himself. He pointed at Neville before pointing into his opposite palm and grazing his knuckles down his upper arm. Harry nodded his agreement at Ron's statement that he was going to insist that Neville be able to stay and that he was an important healer in the hospital. Ron then waved his finger across his face in disbelief.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Hermione agreed incredulously, "what about the fact that Ron was idiot enough to consent to the procedure beforehand?"

Ron suddenly looked offended and glared at Hermione.

"You did remember to submit his statement telling them that didn't you?" she said, ignoring her boyfriend's disgruntled expression.

Neville swallowed and nodded. Then he gave a cough to clear his throat and looked at Ron with bewilderment.

"Yeah, I think that's what swung it for me, thanks mate," he just about managed to smile.

All three of their faces fell slack as they gaped at Neville and then suddenly realised what he was telling them.

"You," Harry stammered, "You can stay?"

Neville nodded and managed to smile properly at last. Harry and Hermione whooped while Ron punched the air in celebration and then hugged Hermione before releasing her so she could do a mini excitable jig and then run to Neville and hug him.

"Brilliant mate!" Harry grinned.

Ron nodded and twirled his index fingers to demand a recount of everything that had happened just as the medi witch came in with Ron's potion.

"Oh Mr Longbottom, I just heard, well done!" she beamed, "I knew that sour faced old cow would try and get you thrown out but all in all they're a fair group."

She turned from a delighted looking Neville to Ron and thrust the vile tasting potion to his lips.

"Swallow you," she demanded, causing Hermione to snort with amusement, "that's it," she smiled before turning to the others, "Now don't get him too excited, I don't want to have to come in here and give him mouth to mouth."

Ron looked appalled and Harry struggled not to burst out laughing.

"Especially not with this foul stuff on his lips," she said as she shook the empty potion bottle in front of Ron before marching from the ward with a tiny chortle.

Ron threw his arms wide and gestured o his clearly amused friends before pointing repeatedly at himself and cowering.

"Because you deserve to be picked on!" Harry said with his eyebrows raised, "It's your penance for scaring the shit out of us all."

* * *

There was an explosion at both the front and back doors of the clinic followed by a smashing sound and an alarm going off at the fire exit. Several female voices screamed while heavy footsteps sounded all around her. Jess got up from her seat in the day room and fumbled for her stick.

"Adam, Roger, keep them away from the patients!" she heard nurse Stour yelling to two of the porters.

Jess tapped her way across the room, unsure about whether or not she should hide or go and try to help out. There was another loud booming sound that shook the ground beneath her feet and one of the patients screamed and bumped into Jess as she ran past.

"They've come for me," the woman was screeching, "I knew they'd come for me!"

"Valerie no!" Stour screamed at the woman as Jess lost her footing and hit the floor hard, "keep down, they're not here for you. The war's over dear they..."

There was a sharp cracking sound and Valerie's screams stopped abruptly while nurse Stour roared out in horror.

"What is wrong with you people? They've never done anything to you! They're not hurting anybody!"

Something that sounded like broken crockery hitting something soft and thick like mud silenced Stour and then Jess heard the sapper's voice from way down the hall.

"You bastard! You worthless cowardly scum, beating up women in a fucking hospital!"

There were more distant screams, crashes and bangs while one of the other nurses was softly crying somewhere over a man she was calling Ollie who Jess guessed must've been Oliver the male nurse.

Jess crawled across the floor towards the sound of the crying and whispered ahead of her.

"What's going on? Are people hurt? Who's doing this?"

The crying nurse seemed to be shoving Jess over onto her side and shushing her.

"Hide Jess," she said through a desperate sob, "you're behind an armchair now, stay there and keep quiet okay?"

"What was that?" said a triumphant sounding voice as Jess felt her hair being grabbed and her whole body being pulled up from the floor.

"No! Leave her alone!" the crying nurse was shouting before suddenly shuddering to a halt with a whimper.

"I could finish your boyfriend off if you'd prefer," the snarling man who had hold of Jess by her hair said.

The nurse began to cry, she sounded muffled as if her face was pressing against something or someone.

"Please don't hurt him," she was begging.

There were more thundering footsteps coming from down the corridor now and Jess felt herself being dragged across the day room while her scalp almost burned with the pain of her hair being tugged so hard. She could feel several clumps of it uprooting and gave a whimper.

"I've got the seer!" the man who Jess knew could only be a Death Eater yelled as the footsteps were almost upon them now and sounded as if they skidded to a halt at the open door to the day room.

The man who had such a firm hold on Jess seemed to flinch momentarily before putting her into a headlock and pressing what felt like a metal tube to her throat.

"Keep back you mentally infirm disgrace to magic," the Death Eater was warning the person in the doorway, "I'll shoot her."

"No you won't, you need her," the voice of the sapper said defiantly.

The cold hard metal cylinder, which was obviously the barrel of a gun, left Jess's throat.

"I'll shoot you then," said the man.

"Promises, promises," said the sapper.

There was a loud bang and Jess screamed as she was dragged through the door while something gripped her long skirt and tried to pull her back.

"Leave her alone you bastard!" the sapper's voice strained to say through what was obviously an incredible amount of pain.

Jess was crying now as she reached out for the injured man.

"Help the others!" Jess was straining to say through the bulky forearm around her throat, "Help the nurses..."

Jess felt slim strong fingers curling around her hand and gripping tightly and then what felt like an explosion inside her head. She could hear herself screaming and the sapper screaming and the shouts of other Death Eaters around her, urgently demanding they get out of the place as fast as possible. Then she heard her screams inside her head as well as outside. She heard the sapper, and _saw_ him, touching Ron's arms and the two of them in pain. Then she felt the pain and saw a blinding white light and suddenly blinked her eyes and saw hospital room with a black haired man wearing glasses that she knew to be Harry, a pretty girl with bushy brown hair and a round faced man smiling about something. She realised what was about to happen as the pain left her body and screamed.

"Ron no!"

* * *

Harry was laughing and turning to respond to Hermione's exasperated shake of the head when it happened, out of nowhere and without any warning whatsoever.

Ron drew in a sharp intake of breath and gritted his teeth while his whole body arched and both his hands balled up into tight fists. One of his legs kicked out before his eyes opened wide and he stared at Hermione with a look of pure terror and then his eyes forced themselves shut again while his back arched and he gripped his chest and looked to be in an incredible amount of pain.

"Harry get a healer!" Hermione screamed, "get the medi witch back in here and tell her Ron's having a heart attack and get Kalra now!"

Neville was already running for the door though.

"Madame Bahn! We need help," Neville called as the door swung closed behind him.

Harry looked from Ron's body, contorting with pain, to Hermione who was terrified but completely focused on what needed to be done. She laid Ron flat again and then ran to the foot of bed and lifted it off the ground so Ron's feet were now above his heart. Ron seemed to be in even more discomfort now and tried to sit back up again.

"No Ron!" Hermione yelled at him before turning to Harry and giving him his orders, "We can't let him sit up, lay him back down flat."

Harry ran to the head of Ron's bed and shoved him back down by the shoulders. Ron's skin felt ice cold and he was so pale that the only thing that made him stand out from his sheets were his freckles.

"I know it's uncomfortable Ron but you have to lay like this until the healers come," Hermione was explaining to him through tearful eyes, "are you listening to me Ron?"

Ron's eyes were still screwed tightly shut but he nodded. Harry was still resting both his hands on Ron's shoulders, not using any pressure but just to keep reminding his best friend to stay where he was.

"Somebody's coming to help any second now okay?" Hermione said as she glanced to the door and saw Madame Bahn rushing into the room while Neville followed close behind, "I know it feels worse to be at this angle but you've got to trust me Ron. Do you trust me?"

Ron didn't answer, he was hit with another wave of agony and his body arched again. Harry noticed that even Ron's toes were curling in on themselves tightly. Neville ran to Hermione and took the end of the bed from her.

"Here let me," he said as he took the weight.

"No I'll do it," Harry said, "you two are more use to Ron at this end then you are down there."

The doors opened again as Harry took the weight of the bed from Neville and watched Hermione and Neville assist the medi witch. Neville was waving his wand in concentric circles over Ron's chest and Madame Bahn was briefing Healer Kalra on Ron's condition while Hermione began to do something to thin Ron's blood for some reason.

"Right, Longbottom I need you to keep that up until I tell you to stop alright?" Neville nodded and kept on mumbling the incantation over and over again, "Granger, don't overdo it until we know just how severe this is, when you've finished I want you to help Madame Bahn try to convince his brain not to attack our treatments or his healthy blood cells okay?"

"Yes sir," Hermione nodded as she finished off her blood-thinning spell.

Kalra aimed his wand at Ron's chest and began to snap some healing spells at him in quick succession.

"_Servo corrigo, coroboro sano, orno vivificus, spiritus lenis!_" Kalra glanced up at Harry and smiled, "Let me get that for you Potter, "_Wingardium leviosa!"_

The bed remained tilted at its twenty-degree angle and Harry released his hold and stepped back from it.

"Thanks," he said with barely a whisper.

"Quick thinking with the elevation of the legs Miss Granger, that was you wasn't it?" Kalra said to Hermione, who concentrated on what she was doing and just gave a simple nod, "I always find that muggle borns are the best at emergency aid. Wand waving does no good at all unless you know the basics eh?"

Harry didn't like how carefree Kalra was being; he was still smiling at them all reassuringly the whole time. Harry felt his body freezing on the spot and wondered how these four people before him could find it in them to leap into action like this. He could barely even remember to breathe.

Ron was breathing very heavily now but his eyes were open and he was looking around at all the faces around his bed before his body seemed to convulse again, causing his face to scrunch up in pain briefly, and he gritted his teeth and looked at the smiling healer standing over him.

"Don't you worry about this Ron," Kalra said, almost with delight, "a heart attack I can fix."

Harry finally understood now. All the other times Ron had problems Healer Kalra was in the dark and at a complete loss on how to treat him but this was something he had done a thousand times before and he knew that Ron was in safe hands. It was then that Harry found it in him to move his feet once again.

Ron lifted his hands and tried to sign but the medi witch grabbed his arms and held them down.

"Not now dear, we just need you to lie still for us okay?" she smiled.

Ron seemed to be drawing breaths in as if he was building himself up to something and shook his head with agonised determination. The medi witch looked to Hermione and the two of them swapped priorities.

"Ron listen to me, I know it hurts and I know you want to get up or roll over or something but you're got to trust me with this and just lay..." Ron's hard gripped Hermione around the wrist firmly and she stopped speaking.

His eyes were wide and pleading with her while his chest seemed to constrict with another spasm of pain and he let out a gasp.

"What is it?" Hermione said fearfully while Harry approached the bed to read Ron's weakened attempts to sign.

Ron drew his index finger down the length of his palm and curled it up to his thumb before making a gripping motion away from him and then pausing to grimace yet again.

"Jess has been taken?" Harry said as he shared a look of deep concern and confusion with Hermione.

"This could be his head messing with him right now," Neville said quickly before going back to his constant murmuring as he cast the spell over Ron's heart.

Harry doubted it as he glanced down at Ron's arms and saw the scars burning red and nodded down to them for Hermione's benefit.

"Healer Kalra, this may have been induced by telepathy or some kind of..." she began.

"Let's focus on that aspect when we're done here yes?" Kalra said with a friendly smile, "nearly there Ron, is it easing off yet?"

Ron's eyes bulged and his body arched away from the bed again before slamming down and causing Ron to pant as if he was trying to breathe with a rhinoceros on his chest and then nodded. This hit Harry harder then anything else at that moment. Ron looked as if he was in agony and yet he'd just said it was easing off. He admired Ron's threshold for pain if it had been so much worse then this in the beginning. Ron winced and then looked back at Harry.

Ron pointed at his eye, grazed his knuckles down his arm, signed the letter 'J' once more and then linked his little fingers to sign 'S', before shaking his hands stiffly downwards over his chest as his body clenched through yet another wave of pain.

"People at the clinic are hurt? You saw it?" Harry clarified to make sure Ron knew that his message was being understood.

Ron closed his eyes and nodded before repeating his first declaration that Jess had been taken away. The doors burst open again and two more healers ran inside.

"Kalra, you need any help?" one of them, a witch with long braided hair that had bright blue streaks in it stopped by Ron's bed and gave a quick nod to Neville who smiled at her before turning his attention back to his ongoing spell on Ron's heart.

"We've got it under control thanks," Healer Kalra said with a grin that was almost chirpy, "I've strengthened the heart muscle some more and it looks like Madame Bahn and Miss Granger here have convinced the patient's brain to stop attacking the heart. Lots of strengthening solution will need to be brewed if you wouldn't mind finding a spare medi witch or wizard to get that started for me?"

"Of course," the Healer nodded and she and her colleague turned and left the room.

Kalra put his hand upon Neville's ever-twirling wand and steadied it.

"That's it Neville, well done son, he's stabilised."

Neville lowered his tired arm and heaved a deep sigh.

"Mr Potter," Kalra said to Harry who was giving Neville a congratulatory pat on the shoulder as he sat down in a chair beside Ron's bed, "would you mind alerting the Aurors to this apparent incident at the clinic?"

Harry's eyes widened and he nodded before running from Ron's room.

When the hell was this ever going to be over?

* * *

Percy was supposed to be putting the finishing touches to the minister's speech to the media that afternoon when the fireplace burst into green flames and Fred's face emerged from it and glanced around the office in search of Percy.

Percy was already on his feet and crouching before the fireplace before Fred could even begin to speak.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Not to worry okay? I've been told it's all okay now and he's going to be fine so you're not to worry right?" Fred said with eyes unnaturally wide for him.

Percy knew this was about Ron, it had to be as he was the only person Fred would feel the need to soften any kind of blow with.

"Tell me," Percy snapped impatiently.

"Ron's had a slight heart attack," Fred said, as if he couldn't quite believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

"How can a person have a _slight_ heart attack?" Percy barked, "You either have one or you don't!"

Fred swallowed and nodded to himself. Percy guessed that Fred was softening the blow for himself as much as he was doing it for Percy.

"Yeah well it was a big one okay? He had a big nasty heart attack but the healers were right there as soon as it happened and Hermione and Neville were looking after him the whole time and he's going to be fine now. Kalra says he's fine."

Percy pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. This was getting to be too much now. How much more could Ron go through as a result of his stupid plan?

"I believe him Perce," Fred said sincerely, "Ron's going to be okay."

Percy put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"He's only twenty," Percy said as he rose from his squatting position before the fireplace, "how does a twenty year old have a heart attack?"

Fred seemed to be shrugging from within the flames.

"That Auror Pemberton had one when he was twenty five didn't he? Remember dad telling us years ago, Mum dragged Bill and Charlie straight to the healers for a check-up because they were almost the same age," Fred gave a halfhearted chuckle.

"That was different Fred," Percy sighed, "he was in a stressful line of work and he'd had a heart condition since infancy they later discovered. Ron's heart's always been as strong as an ox."

Fred looked down into the coals beneath him and nodded.

"Yeah I know but it's all to do with this immune system stuff and they're improving that little by little and his heart's fine now. There's no need to worry and there's no reason for you to come to St Mungo's, I just thought you ought to know."

Percy began to tidy away his papers from his desk and gave a slight laugh at this.

"Oh no, I'm coming now, I want to talk to the healers myself. I'll be there shortly."

Fred grinned suddenly and Percy knew what was coming.

"Don't call me shortly!" they both said at the same time.

"Damn!" Fred cursed, "I've become predictable."

Percy grabbed a balled up piece of parchment from his desk and threw it into the flames at Fred's head but he had already ducked away and the flames were dying out altogether now. The door to the minister's office opened and Percy put down his bundle of papers and began to sign his apologies and explain that he had to leave for a family emergency immediately.

The minister nodded and waved a piece of parchment in front of him.

"You knew already?" Percy muttered to himself as he took the parchment and began to read.

How could a ministry memo have got to the minister before Fred had been in touch with him via floo? Then Percy realised that they were talking about entirely different but obviously linked incidents. The minister had been sent word of the Death Eaters' brutal attack using muggle weapons at the non-magical clinic in Cumbria. People were injured, dead and one patient had been taken. Percy didn't even need to read to the end to know who the missing patient was.

He swallowed and looked up at the minister. He drew a circle in the air with his finger linked his hands and then rubbed his knuckles together. Percy then drew a heart on his chest with his fingers and shook his hands downwards in front of his chest before stroking his little finger along his upper arm. The minister was about to enquire how Ron's heart attack and the attack at the clinic were connected when the door to Percy's office burst open and three hooded figures ran in with wands drawn.

"No!" Percy yelled as he reached for his own wand.

"_Everbero!"_ one of the Death Eaters growled as Percy was hit hard in the chest by a bright red light and thrust backwards into the wall behind him.

Everything went black for a moment before white spots flashed before him and he blinked his eyes back into focus. He still couldn't see clearly as his glasses were gone but he could just make out a struggle between the minister and the robed figures. Percy felt around himself for a weapon and tried to get to his feet when he heard another gruff voice yelling a spell his way.

_"Stupefy!"_ the Death Eater's wand sent the stunning spell right into Percy's face.

As he slumped to the floor he heard the third Death Eater sneering to the others.

"Two down, one to go."


	15. Anywhere But Here

**Anywhere But Here**

As soon as they heard the news the twins ran from Ron's bedside to go and check on Percy. Mrs Weasley was torn between two sons on two different wards. Harry watched her as she bit into her bottom lip and tried to work out if she had it in her to leave her youngest son who had just had a serious heart attack to go and visit her other son who had been hexed into unconsciousness by Death Eaters intent on kidnapping his boss.

"Mum go with them," Charlie said with a smile, "Ron's stable now and he's not going anywhere in the next half hour is he?"

Mrs Weasley gave a worried smile before nodding and getting up from her seat.

"You promise to come and find me if anything happens," she said to Charlie as she backed away from Ron's bed and across to the door, "even just the littlest thing you'll come and get me?"

"On my life mum now go and see how Percy's doing," Charlie nodded and smiled at his mother.

She turned and rushed out of Ron's room without another word. Charlie looked back at Ron and then across his sleeping body to his father who had a single eyebrow arched in amusement.

"You don't fool me y'know?" Mr Weasley said.

"What?" Charlie frowned.

Harry watched this exchange from his chair across the room and caught Hermione's eye as she suppressed a smirk while administering a top-up to Ron's heart treatment.

"You're worried about Percy too and want your mother to check up on him to be sure that he's going to be okay," Arthur smiled.

Charlie snorted.

"Well he is my brother but please don't forget dad that he's also the prat who nearly killed Ron. Of the two of them I think I'll stick with Ron as far as worry is concerned thank you."

Mr Weasley's smile faded as he sat forward and looked his broad shouldered son in the eyes.

"Nobody's asking you to choose between them Charlie," he said softly, "you're allowed to care about the both of them."

Charlie swallowed and sat back in his seat, folding his arms.

"My _baby_ brother just had a heart attack dad, Percy's gonna be fine but Ron," Charlie looked at Hermione and then Harry before turning his focus to his feet.

"Ron's going to be fine too," Hermione said adamantly as she finished off the strengthening spell on Ron's heart and plunged her wand back into her robes with annoyance.

Charlie still couldn't look up and Harry felt thankful that the tension in the room was broken by Ginny striding into the room with a relieved look on her face.

"Percy's awake and right as rain," she said as she walked into Harry's waiting arms for a hug, "the mediwitches patched him up and he's talking to the Aurors about the kidnapping right now. Mum made me come back to check on Ron while she stayed to calm him down."

"Is he really shaken up about it then?" Harry frowned as he released Ginny from their hug.

"Something about moving," she rolled her eyes, "we've got to move him, we've got to hide him, that's all I could make out before I was all but thrown from the room. Moody seemed to be getting him under control when I left and..."

The doors burst open and Tonks and Shacklebolt ran inside with Healer Kalra hot on their heels. Everybody in the room jumped, even Ron was jerked awake by the sudden movement around his bed.

"Kalra, you keep him stable while we transfer him," Shacklebolt ordered the healer before looking at Tonks while Ron's bed was levitated and glided out of the room, "Tonks I want a clear path and alertness at all times along the way. For all we know they could have people already in here."

"Kingsley what on earth...?" Mr Weasley began as he Charlie, Hermione and Harry chased Ron's bed out of the room and down the hallway.

"There have been hits on the clinic and at the ministry Arthur. Your boy says he overheard the Death Eaters planning a third and I'm sure we can all guess who that's going to be."

"Identify yourself!" Tonks yelled at a medi wizard who suddenly appeared from a supply room and dropped all their potion bottles in shock.

"I can vouch for him, he's fine!" Healer Kalra said as the passed by the shocked young wizard.

"Sir can I do anything?" Hermione said breathlessly as she jogged to keep up with the group.

"Granger," Shacklebolt said before Kalra could respond, "help Longbottom and your teacher here keep him stable. Potter?" the Auror called through the crowd.

"I'm here!" Harry said as he shoved his way through.

"You and Charlie are to help with security during this transfer," Shacklebolt turned to roar into some elderly witches faces, "Out of my way!" before turning back to Harry and Charlie behind him to continue as if he hadn't just terrified a pair of innocent bystanders, "do not trust anybody understand?"

"Everyone's a bastard," Charlie nodded as he drew his wand and took up the rear of the group while Tonks maintained the lead and Harry took the other side of Ron's bed to Shacklebolt who ran alongside with livid eyes ready to hex the living daylights out of anybody even remotely threatening.

"Where are we moving him to?" Ginny said as she too drew her wand without instruction.

"You'll know when we get there Miss Weasley," Shacklebolt said as they rounded a corner and knocked a cleaning woman off her feet.

"Oh sorry!" Hermione called out to the woman as they passed by without hesitation.

"Apologies waste time!" Shacklebolt yelled to her as they all ran headlong into a wall that wasn't really a wall at all.

* * *

Jess' Uncle Ted used to play the saw when she was a child. The sound it made was indefinable in many ways. She couldn't ever describe to someone what it sounded like, only what it made her feel. She would feel as if a sad but beautiful woman was humming somewhere distantly, her voice echoing all the way to Jess' ears. It would also make her shiver. It could make her feel so sad and sorrowful. The saw could make noises as if it was crying. Beautiful and sad, that was what the saw sounded like, and Jess could have sworn that her long dead Uncle Ted was outside this dungeon playing his saw now.

The wind was bemoaning Jess' predicament. Wailing and weeping through the draughty corridors and empty cells while it's chilly snake-like touch would make her flinch every once in a while as it passed over her goose-pimpled skin.

One of the other cells was banging closed, the Death Eaters had been shouting indiscernible things at whoever else had been captured with her. She had been listening for the prisoner's voice and there was nothing so she feared the worst. They had Ron.

She had called out to him several times to let him know she was with him and to stay strong but obviously he couldn't respond to her. She just hoped that being in the cell next door to her wasn't causing him any pain.

The door to Jess' cell clunked open and she cowered in the corner, hoping there were shadows to hide her from whoever was coming inside, and she whimpered as she heard a cruel laugh coming from above her.

"He can't hear you foolish girl. The only person who has to listen to your pathetic reassurances is your jailer and he has asked me to shut you up. You seem to be annoying him somewhat."

Jess hugged her arms to herself and tried to feel good at the news that Ron wasn't the other prisoner but she was too scared to think of anything other then her situation. It was so similar to the hellish life she had to live as a prisoner of the Death Eaters before. She remembered the searing light moving towards her eyes slowly and burning away her sight for good. She remembered the wands and the torture and the terror. She couldn't understand why they still wanted her. Not only was she no good to them but of no use to anybody anymore. They had seen to that. They had broken her until she was beyond repair both physically and mentally.

"So you miss your silent little friend do you?" the Death Eater was crouching before her now, his voice much closer and what felt like long fingers lifting her chin to force her to show her tear-streaked face.

"Leave him alone," she said with a timid squeak.

The man laughed that spite filled laugh again and Jess couldn't help but shudder.

"Oh we don't want _him_. We want what he's got inside of him. We want the power not the vessel."

"He...He doesn't have it," Jess stammered through her flowing tears, "the sapper at my clinic t-took it. It's gone."

"Oh no," the Death Eater sneered in a mocking tone, "really? Well let's all just pack up and go home shall we?"

"It's true!" Jess cried out as the Death Eater grabbed a handful of her curly haystack of hair and yanked her forwards so she could feel his breath on her face, "That's why he was taken to the hospital. He was drained and he took everything, he took the witch's power and some of Ron's..." Jess broke down as she re-told the story, "...Now he's practically dead and he can't help you. He can't give you what you want, just leave him alone please!"

"One of us saw him when he was brought back to St Mungo's you ignorant child," the dark wizard snarled, his breath smelled like stale cigars and almost made her throw up all over herself, "he still had the scars. It's in the scars and always will be until _we_ drain him dry."

"No!" Jess whimpered as he hair was released and she fell back against the wall of the cell.

"You said it yourself seer," the voice was further away now, he seemed to be rising to his feet and walking to the door, "his physical self is damaged and his mind has been broken by you and your sapper friend. Just think of it this way dear, we'll be putting a dying dog out of its misery...very, very, _slowly_."

The door slammed shut and Jess jumped with fright at the loud echoing boom before crumpling into the corner in utter devastation.

* * *

Ron pointed at his ear, stroked his chin and made a gripping and pulling motion away from himself.

"Yes Ron," Hermione nodded as she pulled up a chair to sit beside Ron's bed, "they took the deaf man as well as Jess."

Ron bit his lip anxiously as he signed the letter 'P' by making a small 'o' with his index finger and thumb and then putting it at the fingertip of his other index finger and giving a thumbs up.

"Percy's going to be fine Ron, I swear, he's just telling the Aurors everything he knows and then he'll be right up to see you okay?"

Ron nodded but still didn't look any more relieved. Hermione took in a deep breath and grabbed both of Ron's hands in hers, looking him hard in the eyes with determination.

"They'll find Jess and they'll find the minister and Neville and Kalra will get this immune system thing sorted out for good. I've fixed your heart and made it stronger then it ever was before. Everything's going to be alright understand?"

Ron heaved a weighty sigh and made a pinching gesture away from his throat.

"It will be!" Hermione insisted as she jumped up from her seat and set herself on the edge of Ron's bed to force his gaze to remain with her, "Ron nobody's taking you anywhere. Nobody's going to get anywhere near you and those Death Eaters who escaped will be rounded up and put away for ever."

Ron made a fist with an extended index finger over his heart before shrugging and waving his arms around him, at not only his surroundings but the whole situation. Hermione hugged him close to her and felt him resting his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know why this is happening love but I won't let you worry about it. I want you to know that we're all on top of this and the entire Auror department are either guarding you or searching for Jess and the minister..."

Ron pulled away and seemed annoyed at what she was telling him. He drew a circle in the air with his finger before gesturing away from himself with it and rubbing the top of his fist with his palm and crossing his arms over one another.

"Lots of them are trying to find the hideout," Hermione tried to explain, "but Moody's absolutely right to leave the others guarding the hospital."

Ron shook his head adamantly before gesturing to himself with both hands and then clenching his fists and then opening them flat and moving them up and down. He made a big gesture around himself before pounding upon his chest with both fists, knocking on his head with his knuckles, and covering his face with his fingers splayed.

"This isn't your fault!" Hermione snapped at him, "You didn't ask for this power and you weren't being stupid, you've nothing to be ashamed of Ron, you were not in your right mind when you summoned that brain to you and that was the Death Eater's fault not yours."

Ron put his hands flat and moved them up and down again before prodding himself in the chest with his finger.

"You are not the reason everybody's life is in danger. The Death Eaters are the reason. They are the reason Harry got hurt, and Percy and Jess and the twins and you Ron. You have been hurt by these monsters more then anybody else and I will _not_ have you taking the blame for any of this."

She was almost shaking with frustration at Ron's determination to persecute himself. Ron sat forward in his bed and hunched over while bringing his knees up to rest his chin upon thoughtfully. He sat like that for a full minute before turning to give Hermione a halfhearted smile and signing the letter 'J' and then moving his hand away from his chest with splayed fingers. Then he struck a powerful pose with his arms before dropping them down despondently.

"Yes," Hermione said sadly as she put her arm around Ron and hugged him gently, "she's really brave and strong. She'll be fine. She survived them once before didn't she?"

Ron nodded as he turned to look at Hermione with a grateful smile for her words of reassurance before his face suddenly fell and he blinked and looked at her as if she was something alien to him.

"What?" Hermione asked.

Ron was looking both amused and confused at once as he quickly pointed from Hermione back to himself and held his hand over his heart. Then he broke into a wide but apprehensive grin. Hermione flushed in the face.

"Yes I did," she said primly at Ron's sudden realisation that she had earlier called him 'love'.

Ron was still in a state of shocked amusement at this as he shrugged and made a movement like breaking a twig with both hands.

"What do you mean when did that start?" Hermione huffed as she shifted around on the bed to face him full on.

Ron threw both arms wide and shrugged again with a shake of the head.

"Well...I..." Hermione's mouth was flapping open and closed while she struggled to articulate the truth for him, "...While you were...I didn't know I was doing it until I caught myself doing it every day I came to see you and now I can't stop."

Ron's amusement gave way completely to intrigue now and he narrowed his eyes and blinked at her.

"I started doing it while I was talking to you all that time. When you weren't listening," she lowered her head and sighed.

She saw Ron taking her hands from her lap and putting them over his heart with a smile. She almost giggled and Ron broke into a grin and shook his head before seeming to steal himself to do something. He took a deep breath in and let it out before putting his hand on top of hers where they still rested over his heart and pointed at her. Then he feigned annoyance and tapped the side of his head with his thumb.

"I know!" Hermione nodded apologetically, "I know you do Ron. I love you too."

Ron seemed to wince as he looked away from her momentarily and then turned back to meet her eyes as he crossed his arms over each other and moved them away horizontally before pointing from his lips to her.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione frowned, "You say it all the time."

He shook his head sadly and made the sign from his lips to her once again. Hermione felt her heart constrict inside her chest as she understood what he was saying to her.

"Just because you didn't get to say it when you had a voice doesn't mean I don't know you do. I don't need to have _heard_ you say it Ron. I _know_ it."

Ron lowered his eyes and made a pinching gesture at his throat before pointing from his lips to Hermione again.

"I wish you could have told me that way too but it doesn't make any difference. I still know, I knew then, and whether we sign it or we say it; it means the same both ways."

Hermione lifted Ron's chin and pointed at herself before putting both hands to her heart and then pointing them both at Ron with the deepest look of sincerity in her eyes. Ron smiled and nodded before mouthing the words back to her silently.

That would have been the perfect time for them to have a smooch but Percy and the twins ruined the mood by barging in with armfuls of chocolate for their brother. Ron laughed at them as most of the boxes and bars slipped from their grasp and onto the floor. He turned back to Hermione at his side and pointed at his wrist while twirling his finger clockwise several times. Hermione took his hand in hers and nodded. Ron winked and then turned his attention back to his brothers and chuckled at the mess they were making all over the floor of the ward.

Hermione couldn't wipe the smile off her face at the silent agreement they had just come to.

_Later._

* * *

Harry was with Neville, Kalra and Ron's parents as they made their way through Moody's security measures to visit Ron's secure room.

"No I insist Healer Kalra," Mrs Weasley was saying as she shook her head with determination, "this is no reflection on the care Ronnie's been given at St Mungo's but I want him moved immediately. It's not safe for him here. They know where to find him."

"And what do you suggest Mrs Weasley?" Healer Kalra said, tiring of this insane conversation but still being unable to find a way out of it.

"He comes back home with us of course, we have wards installed by Albus Dumbledore himself!" she said as if it was the most obvious solution possible.

Mr Weasley looked resigned to the livid reaction he was going to get from his wife for not supporting her on this and put his arm around her and gave a short squeeze.

"Molly dear you know that the Burrow's going to be watched night and day, it's ten times the risk that St Mungo's is to Ron's safety."

"My home is the safest place there is for my family Arthur Weasley!" Mrs Weasley snapped as she turned on her husband ferociously.

"Mrs Weasley he didn't mean it that way really," Harry tried to intervene while the husband flinched underneath his wife's accusatory glare, "but I have to say I agree with him. They do know he's here and they will try to get to him but they won't be able to do it. They'll know if he's at the Burrow the second he arrives and they'll get him within the hour, Dumbledore's wards or not."

Neville nodded and then stopped when he met Mrs Weasley's hurt eyes. She muttered something about being perfectly capable to protect her own children in her own home and stormed off down the corridor to fling Ron's door open and resume fussing over him. She was still absolutely horrified at the idea that her young, fit and healthy baby boy had suffered a massive heart attack at twenty years old. Magically induced or not it was still a shocking thing for Harry to get his head around.

"I'm sorry Healer Kalra, "Mr Weasley was saying to the worn down wizard, "this isn't about you or the hospital or the Aurors' competence at security. It's all her worst fears happening at once and there being nothing she can do about it."

Kalra nodded.

"Don't worry Arthur, I had a mother too, I understand completely."

Harry and Neville shared a slight chuckle with each other as they reached Ron's room and Neville was pulled aside by his mentor to discuss the next brain treatment Ron was to receive while Mr Weasley stepped inside to attempt to prevent his wife from suffocating Ron with her concern. Harry wasn't even in the door yet when the twins came rushing out with fearful looks on their faces.

"I wouldn't if I were you Harry, she's going off on one about the mess we made in there!" Fred said as they hurried down the corridor and towards the lifts.

Percy stepped out with a wry shake of the head and closed the door behind him on seeing Harry waiting outside.

"Um, I was just going to..." Harry pointed over Percy's shoulder at the closed door.

"We need to talk," Percy said anxiously.

Harry nodded.

"Okay, let's go to the cafeteria."


	16. Safe As Houses

**Safe As Houses**

"So what's this about Percy?" Harry frowned as they crossed the reception area on the ground floor of St Mungo's on their way to the cafeteria to meet up with the twins.

"Ron," Percy said as his brow furrowed.

"Well I guessed that!" Harry said as he rolled his eyes and stopped walking.

Percy pulled up alongside him and sighed before getting directly to the point.

"Well there's the Auror teams all over this place and the Order of the Phoenix undercover patrolling in and around the area in case there's a Death Eater on the inside, like a healer or something," Harry nodded and Percy went on, "but these people breeched the security at the ministry. The _ministry_!"

"So you don't think it's going to be enough?" Harry said, unhappy at how unsurprised he was at this news.

Percy swallowed and leaned in to whisper to Harry as a small group of people carrying balloons reading 'Get well soon' began to point and stare at Harry excitedly.

"I think that if anyone's going to keep Ron safe it's going to be us; you, me, the twins and Charlie. None of us are relaxing about the amount of security here like Dad and Bill are and mother's just on worry overload and can't see anything clearly."

"What about Ginny?" Harry asked.

Percy noticed even more people watching Harry and put a hand on his back to guide him into an alcove out of sight. Harry walked without protest, focusing upon Percy's words.

"Ginny's concentrating on keeping our mother from driving Ron insane and she's also keeping Hermione together isn't she?"

This was true. Hermione was being strong and professional about Ron's heart treatment. The damage caused by the heart attack was all healed and the heart muscle itself was stronger then ever but the fact remained that Ron's brain could still decide to stop any one of his internal organs functioning at the drop of a hat and, while Neville and Kalra worked on correcting the brain disruption caused by the sapper's 'treatment', Hermione was having to stabilise Ron's vital functions twice daily.

This news was being played down where most of the family were concerned but Percy was too clever to be fooled and Harry and Ginny could see Hermione telling a lie from a mile off so they broke her the very first time they saw her leaving Ron's room on the pretence of getting him a glass of water only to break down in the empty ward next door. Fortunately for Ron and even more so for his frantic mother Hermione was catching these little failures before they became noticeable or even life threatening. The closest call had been earlier that morning when Ron's immune system flooded his body with adrenaline and he had a full-blown fit until his lung collapsed.

"So what do you suggest?" Harry said conspiratorially as two security wizards on patrol eyeballed them suspiciously.

"Shifts," Percy said simply, "One of us, Fred, George or Charlie are to be with Ron in his room at all times while a second is patrolling every possible access to his floor."

"Sounds good to me," Harry nodded.

"I'm thinking Fred and George to cover a shift together and either you and me or you and Charlie depending on when either Charlie or I have to work."

Harry smiled at Percy sadly.

"And ensuring you and Charlie never take a shift together as well?"

Percy mirrored Harry's smile and looked down at his feet.

"Well he's still not my biggest fan right now is he?"

"He's getting there Percy. He really was worried when you got attacked y'know?"

Percy shrugged and adopted a stoic expression.

"Well I can't complain about that can I? What is it the muggles call it? Karma, that's it. I held what happened to Ron against you and now Charlie's holding what happened to Ron at that clinic against me, it's only fair."

Harry smiled at Percy and gave him a slap on the upper arm before nodding towards the entrance to the cafeteria.

"C'mon Perce, let's go sort out the first shift with Fred and George."

* * *

Hermione crept back into Ron's room, as much as a person can creep after going through several security checks and being patted down by an apologetic Tonks outside Ron's door, and held her breath as she squinted through the candlelight to see if he was awake or not.

The corner of his mouth curled upward and one of his fingers lifted and waved at her. She gave him a sympathetic smile and waved back with her own finger.

"Have you been given something to make you drowsy?" she said as she crossed the room and settled on the edge of his bed.

Ron's heavy eyelids closed and opened in a slow motion blink as his smile broadened and he lifted his hand to his face lazily. He pinched his chin with his thumb and forefinger and twisted.

"I am I suppose," she chuckled at Ron enquiring whether she was jealous, "I've been on my feet for thirteen hours and I have to be back here for rounds at six in the morning."

Ron's eyebrows lifted a little and he exhaled while bringing his little finger to his chin and jerking it away sharply. Hermione huffed at his expletive and nodded. Ron held his palm flat at a diagonal angle while moving the index finger of the other hand beneath it and away and then rubbed his hands against his body in small circles. Hermione burst out laughing and Ron gave a silent snigger while his eyes fell closed for a moment and then he forced them open again to look up at her.

"Yes Ron it is _definitely_ too late for passion!"

Ron sighed before bringing the tips of the fingers on both his hands together and twisting them against each other with a hopeful expression on his tired face.

"I think we're both too tired to even pucker," Hermione said sadly as she leaned over him and pressed her lips to his and kissed him, as she pulled away she smiled down at him, "Well it turns out we're never too tired to pucker!"

Ron broke into a grin but his eyes were closing again and Hermione flicked her wand at him to send him off into a deep sleep. Ron's face fell into a peaceful kind of expressionless and she stroked his hair gently for a moment before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

"Goodnight love," she said softly as she got up off the bed and pointed her wand at his body to perform one final assessment of his status.

A small glowing cloud swelled above his stomach and Hermione sent in an exploratory remedy charm which emerged to show her a shimmering representation of what was going wrong floating before her as if she was watching a scan on a black and white television. Hermione winced; Ron's stomach acid was trying to digest his stomach lining. Hermione flicked her wand several times until the problem was fixed and made a note on Ron's chart for Neville when he came by in half an hour to clear up Ron's malfunctioning brain again.

She put her wand away and rubbed her tired eyes as she tip toed to the door and looked forward to her comfortable bed. On her way out she bumped into George going inside with a book and a cup of coffee, Fred was lurking at the end of the corridor too. She was too tired to ask them what on earth they were still doing here though.

She'd ask them in the morning.

* * *

Healer Kalra and Neville Longbottom were both sitting in his office, on either side of his heavy oak desk, mirroring each other's posture in deep thought. They each had an elbow on the desk which they supported the arm that was propping up their head as they stared into space and sighed every once in a while.

"It's impossible to test for foreign thoughts or memories without putting the mind under enormous strain," Kalra mumbled to himself before furrowing his brow and looking cross with himself for not being able to come up with a solution yet.

"It would be hard enough finding a safe way to do it if it was still a full possession but this..." Neville said as he rubbed his eyes and groaned with annoyance.

"There's only a residual trace that we'd have to find first and then try to eradicate," the older healer nodded.

"Without doing any damage during the search for it."

The two specialists looked into the other's tired eyes for a moment before exhaling and looking away again. Neville sat back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair while Kalra jammed a pencil into his beard and began to scratch.

"Do you think the sapper drove the residual possession up into his brain or do you think it was a side effect from the physical possession?" Neville pondered as he gazed wearily at the ceiling.

"I've never dealt with anything like this before," Kalra shrugged, "I know this isn't irreversible and we've been making progress with the immune system problem haven't we?"

Neville nodded as he began to chew his fingernails idly.

"His blood pressure's still all over the place but, thank Merlin, the multiple organ failure has stopped," Healer Kalra muttered as he spun around in his chair to look out of the window.

"Body temperature's all over the place too," Neville said to himself, "don't know whether he's got a fever or not."

"Well he's still attacking the potions we give him as if they're viruses," Kalra said as he spun the chair back towards Neville and leaned back over the desk to meet his protégé's eyes.

Neville leaned over the desk too and flicked a ball of lint away from his sleeve before meeting Kalra's dark eyes.

"His body's attacking any fluids we give him recently," Neville said with some annoyance, "it's as if his brain can't attack the organs anymore so it's making him reject any foreign element that is introduced to the body, be it food water or strengthening solution."

Kalra blew air out of his puffed up cheeks and dropped his chin back into his hand while his elbow settled back onto the desktop once again.

"We have to get past this regurgitating thing before we do anything else. The lad is going to starve to death."

Neville nodded and bit his bottom lip while settling his own chin back into the palm of his hand as before.

"It's been a day and a half. How do you force a body to keep something down that it thinks is poison?"

The two of them took in a deep breath and let it out before staring off into space again.

* * *

The twins were heading down to the cafeteria for some breakfast just as Harry and Percy were showing up for their shift. They nodded a lazy greeting as the passed in the corridor.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked Fred.

Fred stretched his arms outwards while George answered the question with a yawn.

"They're having to do the re-hydration spells again, he can't keep anything down, not even water."

Harry grimaced, a puking Ron was very unpleasant but his body had managed to absorb some of the nutrients before rejecting the food altogether.

"So what did the medi witches say?" Percy asked them, "Are we trying to get him to eat or are we leaving him alone until Neville and Kalra correct the mixed signals coming from his brain?"

George was yawning again and waved to Fred to answer for him.

"They've left this nutritional drink thing at the side of his bed for when he wakes up. Madame Bahn wants him to down half of it at the very least."

Harry nodded and waved the twins off as the smiled lazily and set off back towards the lifts while Percy led the way to Ron's room. There was a sudden booming noise and the floor shook. Fred and George froze and spun around to look at Percy and Harry who were also rigid with shock at Ron's closed door.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" Fred yelled down to them, not the least bit sleepy anymore.

Percy threw open Ron's door and saw that his little brother was blinking his eyes and glancing around his empty room.

"Ron are you alright?" he called across as Ron began to sit himself up in bed.

Ron nodded and twirled his index fingers with a shrug.

"I don't know but stay there you hear?" Percy ordered, "Do _not_ move!"

Percy closed the door and drew his wand just as the twins heard a door bursting open and running footsteps and spun around to aim their wands at the person trying to bypass the Auror security measures.

"Charlie you twat!" Fred snapped as he lowered his wand with annoyance, "I nearly hexed you into last Tuesday."

Charlie bundles past the twins and ran for Ron's room with a frantic look in his eyes. Harry glanced at Percy who was watching his burly brother charging towards them with all the force of a locomotive.

"It's an attack!" Charlie was yelling as he skidded to a halt, "Death Eaters, dozens of them, all fighting their way up here. We've got to secure his room."

Percy nodded and moved to grab the door handle and go inside to be sure that Ron's windows were secure but Charlie put his hand out first and met Percy's eyes before smiling at him.

"I'll be the final defence Perce," he said firmly, "no offence but if they get passed all those Aurors and the Order at the security checkpoints we're going to need some muscle standing between Ron and the rest of them."

Percy stared at his brother before pulling away from the door handle. Harry was setting off down the corridor after the twins who were covering both ways onto Ron's floor. Charlie smiled at Percy again and turned the door handle before freezing at the sight of Percy drawing his wand at his older brother.

"Percy what the hell do you think you're doing?" Charlie said with alarm and annoyance.

Harry skidded to a stop mid way down the corridor and turned to see what was going on outside Ron's room.

"Order checkpoints," Percy said without blinking as he moved his body between Charlie and the closed door to Ron's room.

"What?" Charlie said as he shook his head in an attempt to shake some understanding into his skull.

"He's right," Harry said as he too raised his wand and pointed it at Charlie, "you said there were Order checkpoints."

Charlie looked from Harry to Percy and then over Percy's shoulder at the closed door in front of him before drawing his own wand on Percy with wild eyes.

"I don't think this is Percy," he said as the two redheads glared at each other while keeping their wands raised.

"What the...?" George was saying as he set off towards Harry with a confused look on his face.

"No," Harry yelled while keeping the sibling face-off outside the treatment room covered by his wand, "we need you and Fred covering the entrance points. Get back up there and don't trust anybody no matter what they look like or what they say."

"Harry he's a Death Eater on pollyjuice," Charlie said while keeping his unblinking eyes on Percy at all times, "I can tell, I know my own brother."

"I know _my_ brother," Percy seethed as he gripped his wand even tighter, "and my brother wouldn't sit and wait while others fought to protect Ron. He would be the first one into battle, he'd be the first one rushing downstairs to keep them from even getting up here."

Harry looked from Percy to Charlie and tried to pick up on any tell tale signs that one of them wasn't who the appeared to be.

"Harry's he's buying them time," Charlie roared, "he's been under Imperious since the attack at the ministry and now he's got his orders to take Ron to them while they cause a diversion downstairs."

Harry frowned and saw Percy's eyes light up as his grip on his wand grew steadier and he took a confident step in towards Charlie.

"Well you just gave yourself away didn't you?" Harry said as he moved towards them both, "First rule of lying is stick to your original story no matter what and you just said he was on pollyjuice potion."

Harry turned his wand on Charlie; well the person who claimed to be Charlie anyway, while Percy swallowed and pressed his own wand tip into the impostor's throat.

"Well it's got to be one or the other hasn't it?" the fake Charlie said, "I don't know exactly but I do know that he's not protecting Weasley he's..." Charlie's face fell while Harry and Percy looked as if they had both swelled to twice their height.

"You just called him Weasley," Percy said with furious triumph.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Harry roared while the wand flew from Charlie's grip and Percy flicked his wand at the wizard who appeared to be his brother's chest and sent him flying into the wall behind him, out-cold.

"Don't trust anybody who comes through those doors!" Percy bellowed down the corridor to the twins.

"No way!" both Fred and George responded as one.

The floor shook with another explosion below and Harry and Percy jumped as Ron's door opened behind them. Ron was standing there with his wand drawn and a confused look on his face.

"Get back inside!" Percy snapped at him.

Ron looked incredulous at this and slammed his open palm onto his other fist before waving a hand dismissively. Harry couldn't help but laugh at Ron's protest as he shoved him back into his room.

"Look I know it sucks to just sit in here while we fight but you're bloody well going to have to okay? You're not well enough yet."

Ron looked annoyed as he pointed at himself before banging his fists together with his index fingers pointing upwards.

"Ron I said no!" Percy barked.

"Look mate," Harry said with some urgency on hearing shouts growing louder from somewhere, "I want you to take cover in there and have your wand ready. Aim at the door and watch the windows but don't do anything stupid okay?"

Ron looked thoroughly fed up but Harry didn't give him the chance to protest any longer and closed the door. He locked it with a flick of his wand and turned to meet Percy's eyes.

"He can barely stand up."

"He _shouldn't_ be standing up," Percy huffed with annoyance.

"_Stupefy!"_ either Fred or George roared as screams and shouts suddenly came from the far end of the corridor.

Harry and Percy took in a deep breath and got ready to defend Ron's door with their lives. George was suddenly blasted off his feet while Fred dodged out of the way of being hit by his brother as he passed and sent a series of hexes from the tip of his wand at an unseen attacker who was firing curses back at him.

"_Protego!"_ Harry yelled out as he threw a protective shield over George so he could get back to his feet.

Two bright red curses bounced off Harry's shield as George got up and threw a grateful nod his way. Just as the shield fell George was ready with his second defensive attack and ran out of sight and into battle again.

"_Petrificus totalus!"_ a familiar voice was shouting over the sounds of battle, "Fred, George, where is he?"

"He's safe Hermione," Fred yelled back as he threw himself around the corner for cover and Percy cast a shield over him for good measure.

"It might not be Hermione!" Percy shouted to him.

"I know but she's holding them back so I'm going to let her keep fighting with us for now okay Perce?" Fred said with a lost shrug.

"Harry, stay by the door," Percy said as he ran up the corridor to help them fight.

Just as Percy joined Fred's side and the two of them began firing off a barrage of defensive spells something crashed through the wall to Harry's right and he found himself the only thing between three enormous Death Eaters and Ron's closed door. He swallowed and raised his wand to cast a shield before him.

"Get me that vessel of die trying," the lead Death Eater snarled before blasting Harry's shield into nothing but a fine mist.

"No you don't!" Harry growled as he kicked one of the oncoming dark wizards in the side of the knee, causing him to slam hard onto the floor.

"_Wingardium leviosa!"_ Harry said as he lifted the fallen Death Eater with a levitation charm and threw him out of the window at the end of the hall.

The sound of the falling wizards rapidly diminishing cries would have been quite comical if it hadn't been for the fact that they were so high up that Harry knew that man was plummeting to his death. He cast a second, more powerful shield, and faced the two remaining Death Eaters.

"You get into this room over my dead body and no one's been able to kill me yet," Harry said angrily.

"_Sectus sempra!"_ George's voice roared as the cutting curse sliced across the shins of one of the Death Eater's legs.

The wizard fell to the ground, bleeding heavily and rolling around clutching his torn flesh. Harry saw George running down the corridor to assist Harry but brought down by a rugby tackle from behind as a Death Eater threw Fred at Percy and the two of them slammed into a smashed window and fell right through.

"No!" Harry yelled before forcing himself to stop thinking about the fact that Fred and Percy were falling hundreds of feet to the ground and prepared himself to defend against the ring leader of the attack as his second shield failed.

"Let's see what we can do about that dead body I have to walk over shall we?" the dark wizard sneered.

Just as Harry was about to utter some kind of defensive spell and the Death Eater his attack the bulky hooded figure shook as if filled with ten thousand volts and dropped to his knees on the floor before Harry before slamming face down at his feet. Behind him, in the very hole in the wall the three Death Eaters had created, was Mad-Eye Moody and he looked livid.

"No mercy to scum who attack hospitals and healers and sick people!" he boomed before turning and blasting the Death Eater who was attacking George into unconsciousness.

George was panting heavily from the fight but only allowed himself a fraction of a second to recover before his eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet and ran for the broken window.

"Fred! Percy!" Harry wanted desperately to go to him but he couldn't tear himself away from Ron's door for anything in the world.

"I've got them George!" Hermione was screaming from somewhere, "pull them back inside I can't levitate them much longer."

Moody set of at as much of a sprint a man in his condition could manage to assist George with the recovery of his precariously floating brothers just as Charlie, the real one this time, leapt over a heap of black robed bodies slumped on the floor and ran down the corridor to Harry with a desperate look on his face.

"Harry's one' of them's like me you mustn't..." Charlie reached Harry and gagged on his words when he saw the unconscious body of himself on the floor outside Ron's room.

"Oh thank Godric," Charlie looked about ready to fall over with relief, "he had everybody fooled all the way up and I thought...I thought..."

Harry slapped Charlie on the shoulder and smiled before nodding over to the window where Fred was being hauled through while clinging onto Percy's right foot while he hovered outside the window under Hermione's weakening levitation charm.

"He didn't fool everyone Charlie," Harry said, "Percy knew right away."

Charlie followed Harry's eyes and then sprinted over to the window to help haul his brothers inside to safety. He hugged Percy tightly as soon as they both stumbled backwards on the levitation charm being lifted once and for all and Charlie began to thank Percy over and over again. Harry's legs shook and his knees buckled with the relief that they'd actually managed to stop it. They'd stopped the attack they knew was coming. He slid down Ron's closed door to the floor while an exhausted Hermione ran down the corridor to him.

"He didn't get inside did he? The other Charlie?" she was frantic as she reached the door and opened it before Harry could answer her.

Harry's back support gone with the opening of the door he slammed down backwards onto the floor and smacked the back of his head painfully while Hermione began to call out for Ron in desperation.

"Oh my god he's not here! Ron! _RON!_"

Harry sat up, rubbing his skull with a wince.

"I told him to hide Hermione, calm down will you?"

Harry looked around the apparently empty ward and quickly scanned his brain for something to convince Ron that it was really them.

"Um...When you thought you were in love with Romilda Vane you said you couldn't stand it because she didn't even know you existed!" Harry said, picking the most humiliating thing he could think of that Ron would never have ever told another soul in his life.

There was a thudding sound and Harry jumped as he saw Ron hitting the floor hard from where he had obviously been suspended quite uncomfortably beneath one of the empty beds in the far corner with his wand at the ready. Ron crawled out from under the bed and got to his feet as he massaged his back, it looked as if he had cramp from waiting in such an uncomfortable form of cover, and glared at Harry before crossing his hands over each other sharply and pointed from his mouth and away and then making a throwing motion over his shoulder.

"Okay mate, I swear," Harry gave a relieved chuckle, "we will never speak of that again."

Hermione ran across the room to shove Ron backwards onto the bed he had used as his hiding place and set about assessing how badly the exertion had aggravated his condition. Harry jumped and spun around with his wand drawn as Neville barged inside.

"Don't hex me, it's really me Harry I promise!" Neville said with both arms raised.

"Neville get over here and check his head!" Hermione ordered.

Neville complied without another word and Harry stepped outside to reassure the others and report to Moody and the undercover members of the Order who had joined the fight what had happened outside Ron's room.

* * *

"I don't care what any of you say I knew this would happen and I want him out of this place right now!" Molly Weasley said as she shook with a mixture of fear, rage, relief and determination while standing up to Alastor Moody and his Aurors.

"Now Molly I understand how you must be feeling but really..." Moody began.

"Understand?" Molly screeched, "You _understand_ what it's like to see your children attacked by pure evil. You _understand_ what it feels like to watch a happy, healthy twenty year old man get sicker and sicker until eventually he has a heart attack. You _understand_ what it's like to know, and I knew Alastor, that Death Eaters were coming to this very hospital to hurt and possibly kill my little boy and be told that the very people who are supposed to be protecting him won't move him somewhere safe but leave him here as bait for a trap. Well your trap didn't work did it Moody?"

"Molly dear please calm down," Arthur said as he tried to rub soothing circles upon his wife's back but she shrugged him off.

"Two of my boys _thrown through a window_, poor Harry having to fight of three Death Eaters single handed right outside Ronnie's door. Right outside Alastor! How safe was my Ron then I ask you?"

"Molly please," Lupin stepped in and guided Molly away from the confrontation she had thrown herself into during the impromptu post battle meeting of the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix, "Nobody here wanted it to be like this and nobody wanted them to get so close but Harry was there wasn't he? Harry and Percy and the twins, Charlie told us about their own private watch over Ron and it all worked out of the best didn't it?"

The flushed faced matriarch of the Weasley family drew in a sharp breath between clenched teeth before growling back at Lupin while glaring at the Aurors over his shoulder.

"That is my point exactly Remus. I said I wanted him back at home with me and that the family could look after him better then all of you and I was dismissed as a hysterical post menopausal woman whose opinion meant nothing."

"Molly no," Tonks tried to protest but she was silenced by Lupin's hand rising behind her and resting upon her back.

"Now come on Molly you know we weren't disregarding you in that way."

"If my family hadn't been here undertaking their own watch over Ron then that..._man_ pretending to be Charlie could've...he would've...we'd have lost him."

Molly sniffed and dropped her face into her hands. Lupin hugged her and Arthur rubbed her back again. This time she didn't pull away.

"I know you feel let down Molly but I'm sure, I more then sure, I'm positive that if we try to remove Ron from St Mungo's his safety and security will be jeopardised and there will be nothing any of us would be able to do to prevent it," Lupin sighed sadly.

Molly looked up at the tired looking wizard's eyes and sniffed.

"I can keep him safe."

"Mum..." Ginny said as she stepped out of the shadows where Bill had been holding on to both her and Fleur tightly.

"Stay out of this Ginny," the mother said to her daughter.

"No," Ginny said with determination as she moved forward a little more, "Ron's ill mum, what can you do for him if his heart or his head go wrong again? What can you do for him if he starts bleeding again?"

"Well him being in here doesn't seem to be stopping any of that does it?" Molly snapped and Ginny flinched as if her mother's words were a projectile being thrown at her.

"Molly, no matter what you say aboutthis, Ron is of age and if he refuses to check himself out then that is that," Arthur said as gently as he could.

"Ronnie's not of sound mind right now so I'm making the decisions here Arthur and I'd appreciate it if you would back me up."

"Not of sound mind?" Bill was saying before Fleur shushed him and he thought better of joining Ginny in her battle of wills against their undefeated mother.

"He's moving," Molly said with her hands on her hips as she looked Moody in the magical eye, "fair enough, he said he didn't want to come back to the Burrow...that's fine, but he's not staying here. I want a secret transfer to another hospital, a secure hospital, and I want him moved before sundown."

Moody stumped forward on his false leg and put his gnarled hand upon Molly's shoulder with resignation.

"He'll have to have a escort of trusted protectors and healers in case anything goes wrong in transit Molly and that doesn't mean you and a home made remedy."

Molly bit her tongue and gave a nod.

"St Mungo's is the safest place I know of apart from Hogwarts. Are you sure you won't let him stay here? We plan to treble the security we had before even though we've now depleted the Death Eaters numbers."

Molly's eyes opened wide and she seemed bolstered by something she had just heard.

"Hogwarts, that's it!" she smiled, "Safest place there is and Madame Pomfrey can take good care of Ron if and when he needs it. I want him transferred to Hogwarts hospital wing."


	17. Detour

**Detour**

"Separating Ron and Harry is just about as impossible as separating Fred and George so there's no doubt at all that Harry's on the escort party."

Harry smiled at this and turned to see Ron giving him a strained grin in return. Ron's immune system seemed to have thrown him into toxic shock; his whole body had been shivering for almost an entire hour now. Healer Kalra was treating him while the Aurors announced the escort party for Ron's transfer to Hogwarts.

"Tonks will go on ahead to meet you on arrival," Moody continued, "Shacklebolt will follow on afterwards and I will be in charge of the security of St Mungo's until the both of you return with confirmation of Weasley's completed transfer. So all we need to clear up is who will be going along with Potter."

"I insist Mr Longbottom be in attendance at all times," Kalra said, pausing briefly from his treatment of Ron to say his piece, "Ron needs a specialist in treating his brain trauma with him. I won't take no for an answer on that."

"Fair enough," Moody nodded, "in fact I would also like to ask Granger to go along too. I understand she can stabilise him physically just as well as Longbottom can do mentally."

Hermione seemed to quiver as she sat up straight and gripped Ron's hand.

"Well I was going to whether you invited me or not!" she said sternly.

"Just as well then isn't it?" Moody said with a slight hint of amusement.

"Sir I would..." Percy began before Moody raised a finger and looked very stern indeed.

"There will be _no_ Weasleys on the escort party!" Moody declared loudly, "this family is altogether far too emotionally volatile and once you let one of them come along they all want to come along so you can all fight over who goes along in the follow-up party once my confirmation of transfer comes through."

"Now hold on, Mad-eye!" Bill began to protest.

"Yes, yes I know, we have worked together and I can trust you and you are a Order member as well as a concerned relative blah blah blah..." Moody rolled his eyes, his magical one revolving three hundred and sixty degrees, "If you must Bill you can go ahead to receive the escort team with Tonks but only you!"

Mrs Weasley was being unusually quiet. Everybody guessed that she didn't want to jeopardise the fact that she had got her own way in the Ron transfer matter. The twins didn't seem too happy at being left out but Percy anxiously met Neville's eyes and seemed to give a nod of reassurance that Ron would be in safe hands.

"There, have the shakes gone?" Healer Kalra huffed wearily as he put his wand away and looked down at Ron.

Ron nodded and made a fist with his thumb and little finger extended, moving it downwards before putting his hand to his chin and moving it away.

"Good," the man said before putting a hand on Neville's shoulder and mumbling something into his ear. Neville nodded and swallowed.

"I'll make him keep it down," Neville murmured before taking a potion bottle from Kalra and slipping it into the pocket of his robes.

"So, we move in three minutes from..." Moody's magical eye revolved around to look out of the back of his skull at the clock on the wall and waited for the second hand to reach twelve, "...now!"

With that the Auror and his team stomped out of Ron's room while the Weasley's smiled anxiously at each other. Harry began to lace Ron's trainers onto his feet while Hermione pulled a jacket on and then took Ron's hand in hers with a nervous smile. Neville helped Ron to his feet before pointing up at the ceiling. Ron frowned and looked up, as did Harry and Hermione, and before he knew what was happening Neville had hold of him by his throat and was squeezing it so Ron gagged. Ron's eyes glared down at Neville but his head was still at that strange angle in the smaller wizard's grip while the potion bottle was withdrawn from within Neville's robes and its contents poured down Ron's throat.

Immediately Ron coughed but Neville threw the empty potion bottle away and clamped his hand over Ron's mouth while massaging his throat with his other hand as the potion went down the way it was supposed to.

"Sorry Ron but your gag reflex really is causing us a lot of trouble this morning and you have to have this before we can safely move you anywhere okay?"

Ron was almost purple in the face as he coughed again and Neville let go of his throat. His other hand was still clamped over Ron's mouth and the annoyed patient looked down at it and them back up at Neville before shrugging.

"I can't let you throw it up either," Neville winced apologetically.

Ron's eyes rolled and he sighed into Neville's clammy hand before his body jerked with a mini convulsion and he fought to stop himself from vomiting against Neville's palm.

"You do this and you're just going to have to swallow it back down again 'cause I'm not moving my hand," Neville warned with revulsion.

Ron nodded and closed his eyes in an attempt to overrule his natural instinct to reject this foreign liquid from inside him. He felt Hermione squeezing his hand a little tighter.

"Can't you do anything to override the instinct to purge in his brain Neville?" she asked as Ron had a mini convulsion and managed to repress it.

Neville frowned and shook his head.

"We've corrected it Hermione, he's just got this psychological thing going on now where he's got to used to puking after everything."

Hermione looked livid at Neville who jumped away from Ron and held both hands up in front of him for protection.

"If you're telling me you've made my boyfriend bulimic I'm going to kill you Neville!" she warned.

Ron glanced to Harry who was trying not to laugh before twirling his fingers in small circles skywards with a bemused look on his face.

"Don't worry Ron you're not bulimic!" Neville said frantically as he backed away from Hermione's rage.

Ron looked annoyed now and gave a very dramatic shrug followed by another twirl of his fingers and banging his fists together to make the sign for the letter 'B'.

"It's an illness, a psychological thing, when people make themselves throw up after eating."

Ron looked absolutely horrified at this and looked from Hermione to Neville and back again before spinning around to share a mortified glance with Harry, who wasn't helping Ron by laughing as much as he was doing right then.

"Um Hermione," Fred said, also fairly amused, "the idea of making yourself sick as soon as you've finished eating is about a blasphemous as you can get as far as Ron's concerned. I don't think you have to worry."

Ron made a snorting sound and folded his arms while shaking his head, his eyes still wide in disbelief.

"Well at least this little scene took your mind off the gag reflex eh Ron?" Neville grinned hopefully.

Ron blinked as he stared at Neville before suddenly realising what he was saying and thinking to himself before smiling and nodding. The potion was down and it was staying down it seemed.

"Right transfer party, let's move!" Moody yelled from the doorway.

It was time to go.

* * *

The green flames of the floo faded and the four of them fell forward and hit the solid stone floor in a cloud of soot.

The St Mungo's patient transportation fireplaces were extra large so a patient on a stretcher with healers in attendance could all transport together. They had been told that the fireplace in Hogwarts' hospital wing had been enlarged to receive Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville all at once but the fireplace they had just been forced out of was entirely too narrow for even two people.

"Is everybody alright?" Harry sputtered as he fanned a decades worth of chimney from his face.

"Oh very well Mr Potter," a silky voice sneered just as Harry felt his arm being forced up behind him while Hermione screamed out in what sounded like pain, "thank you for delivering us the final piece. We were growing impatient."

Harry's vision cleared enough to see the large hooded figure before him hauling Ron up to his feet by his hair while Neville and Hermione tried to fight off the other Death Eaters who were restraining them from helping him.

"Let him go!" Harry winced as his arm was wrenched further to the point of breaking.

The Death Eater who had hold of Ron slid his hood back from his face and sniggered.

"When we're done with him."

Ron's eyes met Harry's as the bald Death Eater with the hooked nose and the arm as thick as a tree trunk holding Ron in a tight headlock and tried to communicate something to him but Harry was in too much shock to follow the gist of it. Ron saw that Harry wasn't with him and quickly began to sign something before the Death Eater's other arm moved forward and his powerful hand curled around both Ron's wrists and held them together securely while laughing to his comrades.

"Hush now chatterbox," he taunted Ron who stared at Harry with wide eyes again, "now is not the time."

Harry swung his leg out in an attempt to kick the death eater who held Ron so securely but he was pulled backwards into a cell where he could hear Hermione and Neville being thrown down to the floor. Ron blew all the air out of his lungs and then closed his eyes. Harry stared at his best friend and tried to work out what he was doing.

"You can't do this, it won't work," Neville was yelling as he fought to escape the cell and get to Ron, "she's gone. We got rid of her. He can't give you what you want."

Neville was silenced by something dull thudding into him and Hermione screamed again before Neville coughed and wheezed as he hit the floor.

"He's not lying!" Harry bellowed as Ron, still with his eyes forced shut and seemingly holding his breath was dragged away down a long narrow hall, "Ravenclaw's gone, she's gone and he's sick. You can't do anything to bring her back, you'll just kill him."

"Liar!" the bald Death Eater snapped as Harry was shoved backwards into the cell and caught by a sobbing Hermione.

"Um Draper?" the hooded Death Eater who had just slammed the cell door closed on Harry's face and was now following on down the hallway, "You are aware that the vessel is trying to suffocate itself aren't you?"

Harry gasped, he now understood what Ron had been trying to tell him, he planned to make himself useless to them in any way he could even if it killed him. Draper was so stunned by this news that he dropped Ron to the stone floor and slapped him hard across the face. Ron's eyes opened but he still held his breath despite the unnerving shade of grey his skin had now become.

"So the vessel's empty is it?" Draper said as he dragged Ron back up to his feet and thrust him against the wall before balling his huge hand into an enormous fist, "Well why would he being doing this if that were the truth?"

Harry kicked at the locked door as Draper pulled back his arm and sent it back with great force into Ron's stomach. Ron couldn't continue to hold his breath against that and began gasping and coughing as he fell to the ground. Draper smiled nastily and pulled Ron back to his feet by the hair once more and pinned him to the wall by his throat while drawing back his fist for another powerful strike.

"Wait!" the other Death Eater said as he raised a hand before the bald wizard, "let's empty the vessel before we dispose of it shall we?"

The bald Death Eater lowered his arm and nodded before turning to smirk at Harry where he watched desperately from the tiny opening in the cell door before throwing Ron down onto the hard floor once again and kicking him all the way down to the end of the hallway and out of Harry's sight.

"Right to the very end and on the left Weasley, crawl there on your own or get kicked all the way it makes no difference to me boy," Draper's voice was saying casually as his footsteps grew more distant along with Ron's wheezes and gasps of pain.

"Leave him alone!" Hermione was shoving Harry to one side now and screeching out through the opening in the door.

"They're gone Hermione," Harry said in a hollow voice.

"They can still hear me," she said as she turned on him with tearful eyes before yelling back out towards the empty hallway, "Moody'll know something went wrong by now. They'll all be coming for us Ron. Hold on!"

There was a face at the small opening in the door all of a sudden and Hermione yelped and staggered back to be caught by Neville while the man in the leather skullcap with the brown rotting teeth chortled in at them.

"There ain't no one coming dearie," he said in a deep idiotic tone of voice, "'Fraid Ron's..._gone_!"

There was another deep spite filled laugh coming from somewhere outside the cell at this and the jailer turned to whoever they were and shared a dopey grin at his own clever little rhyme.

Hermione steeled herself to ignore the vile Death Eater and put her face back to the opening again and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"We're coming Ron! Don't give up okay? We're coming. I love you!"

The other jailer's face blocked the opening with his scarred fat face now and waggled his tongue at Hermione who jerked back from the door in disgust.

"You'll have to make do with loving me from now on mudblood!" he cackled.

"Don't talk to her!" Neville said as he slammed his palm at the opening to try and hit the man's vile face away from the door, "Don't call her that; don't even _look _at her!"

Both the jailers were roaring with laughter now. Harry held the shaking Hermione to him while reaching out to try and calm Neville down too. This was what they wanted. They wanted them upset and Harry wasn't willing to give them the satisfaction.

"Oh come on mate," the rotten-toothed Death Eater said with a smirk at Neville, "you're only sayin' that 'cause you fink yer luck's in don't cha?"

Neville was almost puce with rage as the fatter Death Eater forced his face to the opening and grinned nastily.

"Little mud blood likes a good seeing to by a pure blood don't she?"

"Yeah," the one with the black leather skull cap agreed with a dopey laugh, "and if she let's a dumb retard wiv no money like that," he jerked his head over his shoulder and down the hall Ron had just been kicked along, "stick it to 'er, she'll have anything."

The fat Death Eater howled with laughter at this and pointed to the furious looking Neville.

"Even an ugly fucker like you!"

Harry finally lost his cool and hurled himself at the door with all his strength, Neville joining him in his attempt to shoulder it off it's hinges while Hermione slid down the wall with her head in her hands.

"I'm going to kill you," Harry snarled at the mocking faces on the other side of the thick cell door as he and Neville pounded, "I'm gonna kill the lot of you but I'm killing you two fuckwits first!"

The idiotic Death Eater with the rotten teeth stood back from the door and held up four wands in his hand with a gleeful expression on his face.

"Not wivout these you ain't!"

* * *

Jess had heard the screaming and shouting and was already crying when the door to the dungeon groaned open and something heavily hit the floor in front of her. She heard the rattling of chains to her right and knew that it was the old deaf man that had also been taken prisoner. He could talk but his speech was a little difficult to make out. Obviously not being able to hear what sounds he was making himself didn't help him with his articulation but Jess thought he did very well despite that fact.

"No!" the deaf man was saying, with much emphasis on the letter 'N', "Thhh b-oi no-t w-ell!" the man carefully sounded out every word to make himself under stood.

"Ron?" Jess called out for him, knowing that the older wizard was clearly worried for Ron's well being before the Death Eaters had even begun the extraction process and they would keep talking about amongst themselves as if Jess and the minister were too stupid to understand them.

"Shut up the pair of you!" a deep growl echoed around the dungeon.

There was a cruel laugh and the chains to Jess' right rattled again.

"I love it when the mongoloid tries to talk!"

"Don't knock it you fool, we need him to be able to translate Ravenclaw articulately enough for us to get all those spells and incantations down correctly. If anything we should get him to practice."

"Tsk," another Death Eater said from directly in front of Jess where she assumed he was pulling faces just to be sure she really was blind again, "seriously Draper, you want him droning 'how now brown bloody cow' in that monotonous voice while we prepare? Do me a favour!"

"Shut up and leave him alone!" Jess said as she kicked out wildly with both her legs, not making contact with anything.

There was laughter around her before she felt breath against the side of her face and heard a whisper.

"_You _we don't need to hear anything from girl. You just activate the mute's possession and he signs the knowledge to the deaf fellow over there who speaks it, as much as you can call that damn grunting speech, to us."

"Hell of a lot of trouble we all went to working that one out too!" one of the men grumbled under his breath.

"Did I say that we should all listen to the general? Was that me saying that the whole time?" the Death Eater who had been speaking to Jess snapped at the others before pausing for their answer which never came, "No I don't think it was!"

"Sorry Draper," the sullen voice came from further away now, as if he had been shamed into taking several steps back.

There was a shuffling sound on the ground before Jess and she listened hard to try and make it out, then she heard it, a sharp intake of breath just like she used to hear when she was lost in the woods with Ron and he was in some sort of pain.

"What is this guys problem?" one of the Death Eater's muttered while a dull thudding sound made Jess think that Ron had just been kicked half heartedly.

"He's not well," Jess shouted out fearfully, "he needs a healer. He needs help!"

"He needs putting out of his misery," one of the cruel voices sniggered before Jess felt what she was sure was spit landing on her face, "all three of you lame dogs do. Cruel to keep you alive if you ask me."

There was lazy laughter before the sound of skin brushing and patting against skin seemed to distract her captors.

"Oh look, he's off," one of the men said with mild amusement.

"Kick him again," an annoyed voice from the far side of the dungeon suggested.

"Shut up Norris!" an exasperated voice sighed.

"He could be planning an escape with the deaf one in sign language, you shouldn't let them talk to each other until he's under the influence of Ravenclaw."

"What can he tell a deaf old man with no wand to do when the deaf old man with no wand is chained to the wall you imbecile?"

"Oh yeah," the distant voice mumbled.

Jess heard the deaf man's voice; he was trying to translate for Ron it seemed.

"W-oh-n-t wor-k."

"Oh won't it work?" the mocking tones of the Death Eater called Draper said, "Weasley doesn't think it's going to work. Why isn't it going to work Weasley? Do tell."

There were more sounds, the sounds of Ron signing, before the deaf man interrupted with his translations.

"Shhhh-ee d-oesn-t sssi-n," the old man did his best to sound out the words clearly.

"She doesn't sign? Ravenclaw you mean?" one of the Death Eater's said blankly.

"So what are you saying?" Draper asked.

"He's saying Ravenclaw can't tell you what you want to know because she doesn't know sign language so she can't talk to you even if she was in there still which she's not!" Jess said frantically before being silenced by a hard slap to her face.

"I told you there was no need for you to be talking at all!"

"There's going to be no talking from any of us you morons!" Jess hissed through the pain of her swollen lip, "Ron can't speak for her and the minister can't translate anything other then sign language which Ravenclaw doesn't know. You've messed this plan up good and proper!"

"Um," another voice Jess had never heard before interjected, "a side-note to this little problem that's been brought to our attention by the seer here, I thought you ought to know that there's activity outside our wards right now so I think whatever we're going to do with these three now is really the time to start doing it."

* * *

Harry was pacing up and down the tiny cell, desperately trying to think of something to do, while Neville tried to zone out the taunts of the two jailers and listen for any disturbance from the end of the hallway. Hermione was sitting quietly in the corner with her head in her hands, fighting back the tears that kept threatening to come, and every once in a while she would jump to her feet and try to trick the jailers into opening the door.

Harry had forbidden her from trying anything else after she had tried to get the stupider of the two to unlock the door to 'show her what a real pure-blood can do for a woman'. It had made him feel sick to think that Hermione was so desperate to get to Ron she would do anything, even cosy up to the scum of the wizarding world on the off chance they would open the door a crack.

There were heavy footsteps running down the hallway and Harry and Neville struggled for space to see outside through the small opening in the door. Hermione was practically climbing up their backs to see for herself.

"Where is he? Is it Ron? Where are they taking him?" she panicked.

"It's just Death Eaters Hermione," Neville said as he pressed his cheek right up against the door to try and get a better look around the corner.

Something that resembled a palm slammed against their faces, making them jump back from the door, as one of their jailers tried to get them to stop snooping while the other was called over by one of the departing dark wizards.

"There's a breech at the wards, watch the entrance and kill the prisoners."

Hermione gasped and Neville stared at Harry in shock.

"They're here," Harry smiled, "Moody and the Aurors, I told you they'd come. I knew they'd find us!"

Neville began thumping on the door of the cell as hard as he could.

"In here! We're in here!"

Harry was about to join in the racket making display as the jailers turned on them and raised their wands at the cell door with evil grins on their faces when the sound of Jess screaming at the top of her lungs made them all freeze on the spot.

"_No! _Please don't, you can't do this to him. It'll kill him please stop. Please don't make me do this._ RON!"_

Hermione shoved her way between Harry and Neville once again and began to holler through the opening with ear piercing volume.

"Ron they're coming, they're here, fight back. Fight them Ron. Hold on for me for one more minute please. I'm coming okay?"

Harry and Neville renewed their efforts to shoulder the door open again as the two jailers looked at each other uneasily and wondered how they should go about this treble execution.

"No!" Jess was still screaming, "Ron run! Ron why aren't you fighting them? What have you done to him? Ron!"

"What have you done you bastards?" Harry bellowed through the door, "You worthless cowards!"

"Let's shut him up first," the chubby jailer said as he pointed his wand at Harry while the other one nodded and Neville pulled Harry away from the door just as the fatal curse blazed through the opening in the door, exactly where Harry's face had been.

"What's your problem boys?" Neville yelled, "can't kill an unarmed man unless there's a locked door between you?"

Another green flash sliced through the air and bounced off the wall in an explosion of masonry.

"Don't hit the mudblood," the Death Eater with the rotten teeth said from the other side of the closed door, "I wanna take 'er up on 'er offer."

* * *

Jess was unchained from the wall of the dungeon and thrown to the floor where she heard laboured breathing very nearby.

"Ron?" she sobbed.

Something that sounded like a palm slapping against the stone floor sounded once.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright, she's all gone. The sapper said he drained you. They can't make me hurt you okay?"

Just as she heard another single slapping sound on the floor she was yanked into the sitting position by her hair while the Death Eater who towered above her barked his orders to the remaining dark wizards in the room.

"Get him over here and hold him still."

There was a dragging sound followed by a gasp that sounded so close Jess could almost feel it as well as hear it.

"Sss-t-op!" the deaf man tried to yell as he struggled against his chains.

"Hold out his arms," a Death Eater growled.

"No," Jess whimpered.

She heard a scuffle right in front of her that ended with a strangled sound and very heavy breathing.

"Make her do it, quickly."

Jess felt hands grabbing at her wrists and trying to pull them away from her body. She squirmed and struggled against the rough hands until there was an annoyed huff and she was thrown flat onto her back.

"_Imperio!"_

Suddenly everything in Jess was limp and heavy while her head was as light as the clouds.

"Sit up girl," a voice inside her head ordered and Jess complied, "Reach out in front of you with both hands."

A tear rolled down Jess' cheek as she did as she was told. She was screaming at herself on the inside but not a single sound left her lips. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be manipulated and overpowered by evil men with wands again. She gave up last time, she waited to be saved and then curled up and hid for the rest of her life. This wasn't how it was going to be. Ron had made her see that. Ron had made her see.

Another tear rolled down Jess' cheek as she thought of Ron. Why did he have to suffer like this? Why did he have to be hurt by this cruellest of curses again? He had lost his voice because of somebody he cared about had been made to hurt him under this curse and now what was he going to lose? What would he lose because of Jess and her weakness? How must he be feeling to see yet another person he trusted doing the bidding of the Death Eaters? She tried to say she was sorry. She tried to stop. She tried to scream.

She felt her fingers touching flesh. The soft warm skin was trembling violently and her hands gripped tightly. She waited for the smell of blood. She waited for the horrific vision. She waited for the pain.

"Jess?"

This voice was new.

"Jess open your eyes."

Jess did as she was told but not because she had to. She shook with shock as she saw the smiling red head sitting before her. She gaped and stared down at her hands gripping his arms tightly and tried to let go.

"No don't!" Ron warned quickly.

She gasped and stared up at him again.

"You...You...You can talk? I can _see!_" she too was shaking just as much as Ron was now.

He laughed at her. She saw his smile and heard his laugh. She'd done neither thing before in her life and laughed herself as tears poured down her face.

"Not really Jess," he smiled at her as he leaned forward, "one of us is in the other's head. I don't know who. Probably me, I mean I am the one with...head issues after all!" he laughed again.

"We're talking in your head?"

"That's why you can see and I can talk? You don't need eyes or vocal chords inside your own head do you?" Ron shrugged.

Jess laughed again and tried to take in every single detail of Ron's face and voice while she could.

"I'm so pleased to see you Ron," she said with an excited squeal, "and hear you for real and I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for all this. It's all my fault."

Jess' face fell and she began to cry. Ron began to shush her while still keeping his arms under her grip. She looked back up into his blue eyes again. Blue eyes, Ron had blue eyes, she loved that colour all over again now that she could see it after all this time.

"They're going to work it out soon Jess and they're going to make you stop," Ron said urgently, "when you touch my arms we can talk because she's not in the scars anymore. The scars are just...well I dunno really but that's not where she's hiding."

Jess nodded and held on to Ron's arms tighter.

"They're working out that it's my head, I can hear them talking, they're going to make you let go and touch my head and then..."

"Then you'll talk to her won't you?" Jess said with a hopeful smile.

Ron smiled back and nodded.

"I think so yeah. We can come up with a plan and I don't want you to be scared okay? Don't worry and don't blame yourself and don't fight it when they tell you to touch my head alright? I need you to let me talk to her. You're saving me Jess," Ron smiled a little wider before shaking a little more, "you're saving me."

There was a blinding white light and Ron was gone along with everything else. Jess was drenched in an ice cold sweat and shaking as if she had been in a snowdrift for an hour. The voice in her head made its next demand of her.

"Touch his head!"

Jess felt at peace and, despite the imperious curse, almost smiled as she raised her hands and felt the soft hair tickling the palms of her hands.

"Place your hands on his head now!" the voice said again.

Jess did as she was told with only one thought repeating over and over inside her mind.

'_I'm saving him!_'


	18. Catatonia

**Catatonia**

Draper stared at the two figures and waited.

"Why is nothing happening?" one of the more impatient Death Eaters frowned as he stepped forward.

Draper cursed under his breath and lifted the curse from the seer girl. She fell backwards hard and was panting and crying and then laughing to herself.

"What's so funny you daft bitch?" one of the young and frankly moronic wizards snapped as he waited with wand drawn at the door just in case the dungeon was breeched by the attackers outside.

"You'll see," the seer smiled.

Draper cracked the girl across the side of her face with his knuckles before crouching down in front of the vessel, the mute, and saw that he was sitting exactly as he had been when the seer removed her hands from his head. His clear blue eyes were open and staring off into space, unblinking. Draper waved his hand in front of the young wizard's face and then clicked his fingers but there was no reaction.

"What did you do?" he snarled at the dazed seer without tearing his eyes away from the pale face of the apparently catatonic vessel.

"Shit Draper," one of his inept accomplices crouched at his side and pinched at the redhead's earlobe as hard as he could with no reaction, "maybe they were right when they were telling us he was gone in the head. Maybe we've...I dunno broke him!"

Draper turned to the sandy haired Death Eater with distain at the lower class recruits they had to take on ever since the end of the war and the end of the thoroughbred Death Eaters as he knew them.

"That whole brain damage story was just a ruse being put about by the hospital to try and get us to stop our attack. He's not gone vegetable on us just yet, don't worry."

Draper turned to look back at the perfectly still and emotionless form of Ronald Weasley the youngest boy and the most unimpressive in a family of unimpressive pureblood wizards. He wasn't special, he wasn't powerful, and he wasn't even gifted. He had harnessed this power by accident and couldn't even activate it without a doddery mental patient of a seer laying hands upon him. The knowledge of Rowena Ravenclaw was taking up residence inside nothing more then a novelty receptacle. A receptacle easily broken so it would appear.

"You have to admit though," Draper pondered aloud while the room fell silent and everybody leaned in to listen to his thoughts, "it's very strange that they sent him on his transfer floo with two healers and a translator rather then Aurors isn't it?"

There was a group murmur. The chains behind Draper clanked against the wall while the old deaf man struggled in his degrading way to speak to them.

"'Eeel-ers! G-et th-a b-oy-ze eel-ers!"

"Shut up you infuriating droney old coot!" the impatient young Death Eater barked at the man he knew couldn't hear a word of his insults.

"No he's actually right, good point old man," Draper said, with his back to the minister so he couldn't even lip-read the compliment he had just been paid, "there is something wrong with this boy. They sent him with two healers, two, and not one trained security professional. Get me one of the healers in here now. I think we've...I think something's gone wrong."

The Death Eaters looked from one to the other in shock and Draper glared at them all and bellowed to the youngster at the door.

"GO!"

* * *

The Death Eater with the black leather skull cap and the rotten teeth was waving his wand wildly through the tiny opening in an attempt to hit whoever he could in the cramped cell. He really was an idiot though. Harry, Neville and Hermione were crouching directly beneath the opening, backs pressed hard against the door, watching the red and green flashes of light hitting the far wall and disintegrating into nothing.

"Stop you moron!" a frantic sounding voice called out as footsteps grew louder along the hallway outside, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The wand tip was withdrawn from the opening and the skull capped Death Eater's idiotic voice grunted his explanation.

"Bexley told us to kill the prisoners jus' before 'ee followed the uvurs outside to fight. There's Aurors out there y'know?"

"Is there bloody really?" the livid young Death Eater declared before unlocking the door to the cell with a swish of his wand, "Well why don't the two of you go and join them while I take one of the healers through to Draper before he goes off on one and I tell him all his problems are your fault?"

"Wot are you? Like twelve or sumfink? I ain't takin' orders from you. Why would Draper want one of the mongs fixed up anyway?"

Neville couldn't stand this conversation anymore and just wanted to get the hell out of that cell and to Ron's side. He didn't doubt that it was his friend who was the one in need of help for a second.

"I'm his healer, let me go to him please," he shocked himself as he spoke; his voice was so steady and strong.

"Neville please let me go," Hermione scrambled up to her feet and gripped his sleeve as if it was a comfort blanket, "I have to see him please?"

"Listen your bloody mate's gone brain damaged on us and we need a kick-start so whichever one of you..."

"That's me!" Neville said as he turned to Hermione with determination, "It's his brain Hermione, I've got to go to him. You've got to let it be me."

Hermione made a strangled squealing sound at the back of her throat and Harry pulled her away from the door and shoved Neville out of it with his free hand.

"Hurry up and help him Neville," Harry snapped.

The cell door slammed closed on both their faces and Neville began to point out to the Death Eater who was hurrying him down the hall at wand point that he would need a wand if he were to do anything for Ron at all. He reached the end of the long narrow hallway and was shoved through a side door where he stumbled and fell over Jess where she was curled up holding her face and not making a sound.

The bald headed Death Eater, Draper, pointed his wand at Neville's face and nodded down to Ron.

"Do something."

Neville dropped to his knees and looked into Ron's glazed eyes. He seemed to be staring into space and breathing slowly and evenly as if he was in a state of deep sleep. Neville reached up to Draper and held out his hand.

"What are you doing?" the man said with distain for the round faced young healer.

"I need a wand if I'm going to treat his brain don't I?" Neville said with amazement at his own insolence.

"You think I'm going to put a wand in your hand?" Draper snorted before looking around at the other Death Eaters with amusement.

There was a collective snigger that made Neville so angry he could spit.

"Do _you_ think I can snap somebody out of a catatonic state without a wand?"

Draper took in a deep breath and his lips twisted into a tight starfish shape before he jerked his head at the young Death Eater.

"Give him your wand."

"What?" the young man gasped.

"You heard me now do it!" Draper barked, "I'll be covering him the entire time."

Neville let out a shuddering sigh of relief that he was going to be armed to some extent once again. He lowered the arm that had been directed in Draper's direction and reached out to take the wand that was reluctantly on offer at his other side.

"Thank you," he mumbled before leaning in close to peer into Ron's eyes and blew into them slightly.

Ron didn't even blink.

"Shit," Neville whispered to himself and set about casting his routine brain check spells around Ron's head.

"What is it? Did he go into another magical coma because I know you can fix that can't you?" Draper said as he tightened his own grip on his wand.

"He's catatonic, not comatose," Neville snapped, "What did you do to him to put him in this state?"

"None of your business!" one of the Death Eaters blurted in a child-like fashion.

Neville rolled his eyes.

"Well I there's not a hell of a lot I can do to fix him if you won't let me in on what broke him in the first place is there?"

Draper crouched down beside Neville and jabbed the tip of his wand into Neville's ribs firmly.

"The seer touched his head," he said in a low voice as he twisted the wand tip as if trying to burrow it into Neville like a screw.

Neville put his own free hand to the side of Ron's head and looked at the lilac swirls of mist that were forming around his red hair. It was like a sunset in the dank dark dungeon. He read the brain trauma spell as it displayed the shadows of stress and activity inside Ron's head with a frown before looking back into the vacant eyes of his friend.

Ron had touched Jess' head and been able to astrally project himself into Harry's mind and speak to him while harnessing the power and knowledge of Ravenclaw. What kind of effect did Jess touching Ron's head have that he wasn't thinking of he asked himself?

"Well come on," Draper said with a grunt of impatience, "what do you see? Is he a vegetable or not?"

Neville glared up at the Death Eater and tried to keep his temper.

"No but I need Hermione for this, send one of your apes to fetch her for me."

"You impudent little..." Draper said with amazement.

"Oi you said you were the one to do this," the young Death Eater interrupted, "I heard you telling her she should let you go 'cause you're the brain guy. Were you lying then?"

"Or are you lying now?" Draper snarled darkly.

"Look there's things I can try but there's no point me waking him up just so he can go into multiple organ failure and die then and there! Did you call for a healer so you could kill him faster or so you could wake him up?" Neville said as he felt his face flushing bright pink.

Draper and the young Death Eater looked at each other for a moment.

"You can't be serious Draper," the younger man warned with a shake of the head.

"She doesn't get a wand, the two of them share the one he has, now go and fetch the other healer boy!" Draper ordered.

"But we can't treat him with _one_ wand," Neville sputtered in disbelief.

"Oh come now Mr Longbottom," Draper smiled, "you've reversed an irreversible coma. I'm sure the two of you can work something out."

* * *

Hermione was huddled in the corner of the cell with Harry right beside her, hugging her tightly while she shook with sickened fear for Ron and Neville. Every now and then the two foolish jailers would shout something through the still open door, having refused to go outside with the others and join the fight against the Aurors, and they both kept their wands pointed at them at all times.

"What's taking them so long?" Harry murmured to himself as he looked to the open door and strained to listen to the sounds of duelling somewhere in the distance.

There were footsteps running from down the hallway again and Harry and Hermione sat up straight as the young Death Eater skidded to a halt in front of their cell and pointed at Hermione.

"You, with me, _now!"_ he snapped before turning and running back the way he had come.

Without pause Hermione scrambled to her feet and ran after him. Harry got up to follow her but the two jailers blocked the door and poked their wands into his chest with cruel smirks.

Harry cursed under his breath and turned to begin pacing up and down the cell with exasperation. He ran his hands through his hair and wondered if he had every felt more useless in his entire life.

"I 'eard wot you did to yer mate Potter," the skull cap wearing jailer said as he watched the young man worrying, "sliced 'im up good and proper didn't cha?"

"Fuck you," Harry growled as he continued pacing.

"Poor old cloth ears in there eh? We wouldn't have had to bring 'im in at all if you hadn't hacked away freckles voice box in the first place," the other jailer sniggered.

Harry didn't even care enough about what they were saying to argue with them. He began to chew at his nails as he leaned against the wall of the cell and slid down it. He hoped Neville and Hermione were coming up with a plan to get them all out of this. He hoped that they hadn't been called upon because something had gone seriously wrong with Ron, Jess and the minister.

"Y'know wot Potter?" the skull capped jailer said with a cackle, "I know plenty of widows 'cause of you 'n ya mates, killed a lot of Death Eaters you did, and I reckon they'd enjoy a quiet little pure blood to play with. Obedient aren't they, mongs? The things those horny witches could do with 'im under _Imperius_ eh? I 'ope ee don't die just for that."

"Shit Rich, we could make a fortune!" the other jailer was saying with enthusiasm, "D'you think Draper'll let us 'ave 'im afterwards?"

Harry felt as if his insides were boiling and he tried with all his strength not to launch himself at the pair of depraved idiots. If they weren't threatening to rape Hermione they were planning to pimp Ron to a bunch of sadistic Bellatrix Lestrange wannabes.

"Oh look at him," the tubby jailer grinned down at Harry as he did his best to ignore them, "takin' your little boy-toy away from ya aren't we?"

"Don't worry Potter," the skull capped jailer snorted, "If you get out of this alive come 'n find us, we'll give you a good price."

Harry was so livid it felt as if he was about to explode out of his own skin like a sausage frying in a pan. The fat Death Eater crouched down to force him to meet his eyes with a spiteful grin.

"How much d'you think a piece of that freckled arse is worth to 'im mate?"

Harry launched himself at the chubby jailer and set about pummelling every inch of his body while the skull capped bystander snapped out of his shock and tried to drag Harry off of his colleague.

"I'm going to kill the both of you I mean it. I swear on Albus Dumbledore's soul that you two will never lay your hands on either of my friends."

The skull capped Death Eater threw Harry back into the cell and swung a kick at his face which Harry managed to dodge with a roll over to his side just as a blinding flash of red light illuminated the fat jailer behind him and sent him crashing to the ground with a shocked expression on his face.

"If he doesn't I guarantee you we will," Fred's voice said from the entrance to the dungeon where he was flanked by his twin brother and Percy.

Harry felt like cheering but all he could do was dive for cover as the Death Eater who had been attacking him rose to turn his attention on the three redheads who were aiming their wands at him and bellowing at them with fear and rage.

"Too late boys, the retard's as good as dead!"

Percy looked as if his entire face had been transfigured into a tomato it was that red and he sent a crackling orange explosion of light from his wand tip and into the man's chest without uttering the incantation aloud. The Death Eater hit the ground like a stone and blood tricked from the corner of his mouth while Percy stood, rooted to the spot, shaking.

"We don't _ever_ use that word!" he hissed through gritted teeth as his eyes stared down at the body on the ground as if they would never be able to blink again.

Fred made a dry gagging sound as he tried to say something before clearing his throat and lowering Percy's trembling wand arm while George put an arm around his older brother's back and gave him a jerk of a hug to try and snap him out of his shock.

"Nice one Perce," Fred just about managed to force himself to speak aloud.

Percy finally blinked and looked up at Harry, his garnet red face draining rapidly into porcelain white. Harry clambered to his feet and pulled his, Ron's, Hermione's and Neville's wands from the Death Eater's robes before looking at the three Weasley's standing in front of him.

"Is it just you three?" he asked anxiously.

"There's loads," George seemed to be the only one together enough to have a conversation right at that moment, "they're all still fighting outside. Charlie's watching the door for us until the rest of them can break through."

"Ron?" Percy finally said as he looked around the empty cell.

"They took him," Harry gulped as he pointed down the hallway, "then they came for healers, something's happened to him and now they're all down there."

Harry was already setting off as he finished speaking, Fred hot on his heels, but then the young Death Eater who had come to take Hermione earlier on reappeared and cast an unfamiliar spell across the entrance to the hallway and the four of them were unable to get through.

"Not finished yet lads," he winked before stepping back inside the dungeon and slamming the door closed behind him.

* * *

There she was.

Rowena Ravenclaw was standing in front of him in what felt like an ice-cold cloud but looked like a brilliant white frozen waterfall. Her long wavy jet black hair hung loosely down to her waist and she was dressed just as Jess had described her to him, in a bodice of armour with a long flowing blue skirt down to the floor. She looked old without looking _old_ he thought to himself. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

This wasn't because he couldn't speak but because he had no idea what to say to her. She smiled at him and took a step forward.

"Ronald," her voice sounded as if was coming at him from several directions at once and it made him shiver, "I'm so glad to be able to speak to you at last."

Ron tried to engage his brain back into talk mode. Why was this so hard? He'd done it easy enough with Jess hadn't he? Then again, this was definitely not Jess.

"I..." he began before freezing up and searching his mind for more words, "You..."

The graceful witch places her cool smooth hand upon Ron's cheek and he suddenly came to his senses.

"You have to go," he blurted desperately, "You have to go now or take me with you or something because we can't let them take you. We can't let them use you."

The woman smiled a little wider and Ron shuddered as he looked into her peacock blue eyes.

"Like you have been using me?"

Ron moved back from her touch and frowned. He shook his head and tried to assess what it was that this woman had planned if it wasn't an escape from his body and his mind.

"I never, it was never me, I didn't use you."

"You summoned me to harness my powers didn't you?" she said as her thin black eyebrow arched elegantly.

"No!" Ron said as he felt something inside his head causing him to feel a little dizzy all of a sudden and blinking it away, "I didn't...well I summoned you but I never knew it was you. I didn't know it was anybody. I was...I wasn't myself. I...It...It's complicated but I didn't want your thoughts I swear."

The brilliant white frozen waterfall melted within seconds and the surroundings were a much more mellow shade of blue now as the waterfall crashed silently beside them both.

"Ronald I know you were not aware of what you were doing. I know you didn't specifically summon my brain to you that night but when my thoughts latched on to your body you accepted them."

"I didn't," Ron protested as he held his scarred arms out in front of himself, "you wouldn't let go!"

Ravenclaw reached out for one of Ron's scarred arms and he pulled it away sharply. This wasn't going quite how he might have expected it.

"The thoughts could have crushed you. You could have been suffocated. You should have been driven insane on contact; anybody else would have, except you let them in. You let me burn my way through the flesh and lay dormant as a change of pigmentation. You didn't hear me speaking to you, not even in your sleep, but you let me in Ronald. Why did you let me in if you didn't want me?"

Ron held his arms to himself and shivered again as he thought.

"I wasn't...well. I don't remember why I did whatever I did I just remember..." Ron shook his head.

"What is it you remembered Ronald?" the woman said eagerly as she reached out for his arms once more.

"I remember that after Neville left me I stopped fighting you and you stopped fighting me and we just...looked at each other, except a brain can't look can it?" Ron finished with a mutter.

"A mind can always see Ronald," Ravenclaw smiled as the ground began to sprout fresh grass beneath their feet.

"What the?" Ron frowned as he watched the environment transform around him.

Finally Ravenclaw's fingers glided across his scarred skin and Ron felt warm again. He stopped talking and stared at the witch as she traced the patterns of the silver scars with her fingertips.

"You stopped fighting me and let me in that night, if you hadn't I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from driving you mad. Involuntary possession is very destructive but when the vessel allows it..."

"Enough of this vessel crap I am not a bloody vessel!" Ron's old voice finally remembered what it was good for, ranting and panicking, shouting and swearing.

"You are not a vessel Ronald, indeed you are correct," Ravenclaw said as both her hands gripped his forearms and she fixed his eyes with her own sternly, "You are a prison."

Ron gaped at her for a moment before leaning in a little closer.

"I'm a...?"

"You are a prison Ronald. I have two. My preserved brain at the ministry is one of them and these scars of yours are another. You set me free to a certain extent but I've been with you too long now and I've grown accustomed to your company."

"You've what?" Ron exclaimed.

The witch broke into a wide grin that seemed to bring the sun out over their strange little scene and she shook her head patiently.

"I just wanted you to let me go at first Ronald. I was simply trying to find a way out. The seer gave me the idea that maybe I could try to communicate with you in person, as we are doing now, only the effect on you physically was detrimental. I tried to stop before I hurt you. I locked myself out of your mind so I could cause no more damage but unfortunately I..."

"Locked me in," Ron nodded; he had heard his magical coma described like that before.

Ravenclaw sighed and shrugged. Ron's face crumpled at this and he almost tutted at her. All-powerful witches who founded the most influential wizarding school in history had no business shrugging. You shrug when you lose an argument. You shrug when you spill your soup down the front of your robes. You shrug when you drop your nineteenth quaffle in a row. You do not shrug when you put somebody into a three-week coma!

The woman suddenly threw back her head and laughed. Ron suddenly realised that he didn't have to be speaking out loud for her to hear him, they were both communicating inside his head after all. The witch's laughter sounded like the echo of a thousand glasses chinking together in a toast. Her eyes were almost glowing like the sea in a postcard Charlie had sent him once from something called a reef.

"Ronald my dear, wonderful boy, my host," she said in a sigh while Ron rolled his eyes at the term 'host', "I can make mistakes just as much as anybody. Godric could be mistaken; Helga, and I think you'll be the first to agree with me that Salazar was wrong about almost everything in the end. Even your friend Dumbledore made errors in judgement, poor Harry can testify to this I believe."

Ron swallowed and gave a nod.

"Well I tried to make myself known to you and only ended up making myself known to the sons of Slytherin. Once they knew there was a vessel carrying me it was only a matter of time for you I'm afraid. I had to increase my efforts to be heard, to warn you to get me out of your skin and free me from my earthly prisons only I seemed to just make things worse and worse for you."

Ron refrained from telling her she could say that again.

"I did try to assist you when it seemed you needed me most however. I apologise for the possessions but they were only to try and help you and your friends. I will need your help to do something similar once again."

"What? You need to posses me to fight off the Death Eaters?" Ron said, eager to start working on a plan not that his predicament was brought back to the forefront of his mind, "Go ahead, do it now."

Ravenclaw shook her head in apparent admiration and put her hand to Ron's cheek once again.

"Selflessness," she said with a smile, "you see this is why I have been able to live within you for so long, such selflessness. You do not even hesitate to offer yourself. Just like the night we met."

_"...astrally projecting their minds outside his body so they can plan something..."_

The foreign voice echoed around the landscape as if it was the voice of God in the heavens. It wasn't the voice of God at all though. Ron knew that for sure.

"Neville?" he stared at the clear blue sky in disbelief before looking back at Ravenclaw with wide eyes, "Where's he coming from?"

"He's trying to bring you back, but not by force, he knows we are plotting my escape and he's just holding the door ajar for us without dragging you away."

"So that's why I can hear him?" Ron smiled as he looked to the sky.

"Well it is more then likely that he is right beside you now," Ravenclaw smiled and shrugged again.

Ron was still not sure about this legendary witch being so casual. Wasn't she supposed to be all stoic and stern like McGonagall? Instinctively he looked to either side of himself, there was no Neville but then again he knew there wouldn't be.

_"All we have to do is make sure his heart doesn't give out on him again so he's strong enough to fight when he comes back."_

Ron laughed and looked back at Ravenclaw.

"That's my girlfriend," he shrugged, "this is so weird!"

"I understand Ronald but I need you to concentrate and listen to _me_ right now," the woman said warmly but firmly.

Ron nodded his head and took a step towards her eagerly.

"These men, the sons of Slytherin," she began.

"The Death Eaters," Ron said with another nod.

"Indeed, well they want my lost magic. They desire to feel the power of the curses that died with me, my ancient and powerful magic."

"Of course they do, that's their thing," Ron said darkly.

"Well I'm going to give it to them," Ravenclaw said as if choosing a birthday present for a difficult relative after a long search.

"What? No!" Ron snapped with alarm, "That's not good. That's your plan, to give them what they want?"

"Exactly what they want Ronald," Ravenclaw nodded.


	19. Mind Over Matter

**Mind Over Matter**

"Are the two of you even doing anything at all?" Draper snapped at Neville and Hermione.

They both jumped before scowling up at the wizard holding them at wand point before turning their attention back to Ron and speaking in hushed tones.

"Is he breathing okay?" Neville frowned as he put his ear to Ron's mouth to listen.

"Yes," Hermione nodded as she finished the strengthening spell on Ron's body and surreptitiously healed the nasty looking bruises all over Ron's stomach and back, "those animals," she looked at Neville and handed his the wand, "he's running everything at the barest minimum but it's not doing him any harm. It's like a deep state of sleep only with an incredible amount of brain activity."

Neville heaved a sigh and swirled his wand in tight circles over Ron's head while whispering to Hermione in between incantations.

"I can wake him up but I really don't think I should."

Hermione bit her lip and chanced a sideways glance at Draper who was watching them both very closely. She leaned forward and pressed her fingers into Ron's pulse point on his neck while looking at her watch so she could hide the fact that her lips were moving when her hair fell forward.

"Is he going to be able to snap out of it on his own though?"

Neville nodded as Hermione moved back from her faux examination of Ron.

"Sounds normal to me," Neville said loud enough for the Death Eaters to hear, he hoped it wasn't as obvious as it felt, and gave Hermione a smile and a nod.

"Good," Hermione smiled and curled her fingers around Ron's own.

"Well are you bringing him back to his senses or not?" Draper demanded as he heard a crashing sound outside the locked door to the dungeon.

"He's on his way back to us now," Neville said, unblinking and almost wanting to jump up and punch the sadist in his hooked nose.

"We've just got to monitor his vital signs to make sure he's strong enough to shake it off without any detrimental effects. He can't sign anything to you if he comes round and has a seizure can he?" Hermione said in a clipped tone as she brushed her hand against Ron's cheek.

Draper crouched down and put his wand to Ron's temple. Hermione froze and stared at the Death Eater fearfully.

"Well the two of you had better do your jobs properly otherwise I will end him right in front of you mud blood!"

* * *

Harry and Percy had been throwing everything they had at the magical barrier for five minutes now and still there was nobody from the Order or any Aurors rushing to their assistance. The twins had throw a few spells at the invisible wall before stepping a little closer to investigate it for a moment and then moving aside to whisper to each other urgently.

"You two got something up your sleeves you want to share?" Harry yelled as his own shattering spell bounced back on him and he only just managed to pull Percy to the floor in time to avoid them getting hit by it.

"We're working on it Harry, keep trying!" Fred said before shaking his head at something George was proposing excitedly, "That could bring the roof down, it's too risky."

"_Absisto!"_ Percy roared before his spell bounced off the barrier and knocked him right off his feet, "Ouch," he groaned with annoyance.

"Something..." Fred was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet now as he seemed to have an idea on the tip of his tongue that just refused to leave his mouth, "There's something really obvious that we're not thinking of here," he brandished his wand at the barrier and snapped, "_Nusquam esse!"_ and the spell rebounded, hit a lamp and obliterated it from existence altogether.

"Can we not throw stuff like that around quite so carelessly?" Percy said from his spot sprawled on the floor with terrified eyes,

"Blimey sorry Perce!" Fred said, going a little green as he realised just how wrong that little test could have gone for them all.

"Close it," George suddenly said as he helped Percy back up to his feet, "we keep trying to open the pathway, unblock the obstruction, but what if the point is that we have to close it? _End_ the spell with a closure counter-spell."

Fred lifted his eyebrows as if that was a possibility they hadn't considered yet that might actually work. Percy looked at Harry who was now so frustrated at his feeling of uselessness he was resorting to repeatedly kicking the barrier and roaring obscenities through to the Death Eaters in the dungeon. Harry bent over with his hands on his knees and shrugged.

"_Occludo!"_ George said as he threw a closing off spell at the barrier.

They heard the door to the outside world slamming shut behind them with a sickening boom.

"Oh well that's just bloody marvellous isn't it?" Fred said as he threw his arms up into the air while George gripped his head and cursed the spell's cruel backfire, "Now, even if they beat down the Death Eaters outside, our lot can't get in here to help us!"

"Can we stop arguing and get something done?" Harry snarled through gritted teeth, "Those pieces of human slime are doing Merlin knows what to my friends and I want it to stop _now!_"

"And we don't?" Fred answered back, Percy tugging at his arm to try and prevent an altercation, "That's our little brother! That's the only little brother we've got and we've been of absolutely no use to him since the second war began. We've never been in a position to help him before Harry and now we are and we're bloody well going to!"

"Fred clam down, he didn't mean it like that," George said as he took Fred from Percy and shoved him away from Harry and against the wall of the hallway, "We need you cocky and confident and thinking on your feet and not like this."

Percy looked to Harry and gave a nod.

"We need you to keep cool as well Harry."

Harry nodded and turned back to the barrier with a look of desperation.

"Barrier that bounces everything back," George was saying as he stared his twin directly in the eye.

"Barrier that can't be cut, sliced or cleaved open," Fred said with a nod.

"Barrier that can't be switched off," George added, seemingly glad to be getting his brother's focus back again.

"So..." Fred put his hands to his face and rubbed hard, "...so...Come on Fred what's the stupidest solution you can think of?"

George's eyes lit up and he nodded hopefully.

"What would we do if we were _making_ a barrier like that?"

Harry turned back to them with a frown.

"You'd make so blindingly obvious that the person would have to be stupid not to have tried the counter spell. You'd think about..." Harry started to pace up and down while George's eyes lit up and he seemed to be coming up with something, "...the circumstances the barrier would be used in."

"In defence in a battle situation!" George was nodding.

Fred suddenly shook with inspiration.

"Oh you're kidding me! That guy, that Death Eater wannabe was younger than all of us wasn't he? I'm amazed he's even out of school!"

"So it's probably not complicated dark magic at all."

"It's a fucking household spell that he probably saw his mum use a thousand times!" George leapt up into the air at his utter stupidity.

"It's not supposed to be counter attacked it's supposed to be disabled by a mother who wants to keep her kids away from something," Percy said while his eyes darted from side to side as he tried to think fast.

"What would mum do if she wanted to get into our room but we had a barrier up so she couldn't catch us at anything?" Fred grinned.

"What would mum do?" George repeated.

"She'd just pass through it," Percy said blankly before looking up at the others with a startled look on his face, "she wouldn't bother taking the barrier down she'd just pass through it."

"Are you three telling me we could have just walked through it this whole time?" Harry snapped before striding towards the barrier and bouncing off it painfully, "Apparently not!"

Percy stood before the barrier while Harry moved aside, rubbing his sore nose, and the twins joined him. They shared a quick glance before counting to three and shouting a spell at the same time as walking at the barrier.

"_Permeo!"_

The barrier rippled and wobbled and put up a little resistance but it didn't throw them back. The three of them pushed their way through as if forcing themselves through a wall of treacle and then stumbled out on the other side. They turned to Harry with delighted grins on their faces. He was already following their example.

"_Permeo!_" Harry shouldered his way through and came out of the other side running, "I'm going to fucking kill 'em!"

* * *

Ron blinked.

Hermione gasped and gripped Neville's arm so hard she almost drew blood. Neville pointed his wand into Ron's face and whispered.

"Ron? Are you ready to come back now?"

Hermione swallowed and looked into his glazed eyes. Ron seemed to be just the same as he had been before.

"Did I imagine that Neville?" she said shakily.

"No you didn't he definitely blinked," Neville said as he lowered his wand and picked up Ron's hand, curling Ron's fingers around his hand and saying loudly and clearly, "Ron squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

They waited and there was no movement.

"He's coming back to himself is he?" Draper said as he snatched the wand out of Neville's hand, "Good. Get these two out of the way while I revive him."

"Wait no, he's not ready!" Neville said in a panic as he was dragged to his feet and hauled across the floor to be dumped at the feet of the deaf minister.

"I don't care if _he's_ ready, _I'm_ ready!" Draper said as he tossed the young Death Eater's wand back to him before the youngster yanked Hermione away from Ron and shoved her over towards Neville on the floor.

"But we can't be sure what the revival spell will do!" she called over to the ringleader of this desperate gathering.

"I'm willing to bet it'll wake him up," Draper said with a smirk.

He stood before Ron, who was still sitting upright and staring straight ahead on the floor, and flicked his wand at his face.

_"Ennervate!"_

At the same moment the spell hit Ron the door exploded open and Harry, Percy and the twins charged in with their wands drawn. Hermione screamed in fright and tried to get up and run to Ron but Neville grabbed her and attempted to shield her from the flashes of Death Eater hexes and curses that started to fly around the room.

"Don't hit the vessel you fools!" Draper bellowed as the twins cast a shield charm over them all while Percy covered Neville, Hermione and the minister.

Harry ran forward out of the protective shield and jabbed his wand into Draper's throat.

"The _vessel_ has a name!" he snarled, "And you will have nothing to do with him from now on. I will see to that."

Draper's wand was still pointing at Ron and he looked into Harry's hate-filled eyes and smiled.

"He's yours when I'm done with him."

"It's done now!" Harry was shaking with fury, "Lower your wand."

Draper's top lip curled and he said, in the slightest of whispers, an unforgivable curse with delighted relish.

"_Imperio!"_

"_Oppugno!"_ Harry roared in reply.

The curse hit Ron at the same moment Harry's curse slammed into Draper and hurled him into the wall before slamming his body forcefully onto the stone floor. Just as Harry dropped to his knees to see if Ron was okay a killing curse whizzed by the top of his left ear, causing a eerie breeze, and Fred bellowed a full body bind on the wizard who had sent it.

Harry cast a shield charm before himself and Ron and grabbed his friend's shoulders and shook him. Ron blinked and looked at Harry without emotion.

"Ron? Come on mate snap out of it."

Harry what did they do to him?" George yelled out as their shield faltered and fell away.

Harry sent of several defensive spells while Percy and Fred went of the attack. Hermione and Neville managed to get the minister free and the three of them ducked behind an upturned table before Hermione left Neville with the deaf wizard and crawled across the floor to join Harry. Before she could speak Harry pulled her wand from his robes and shoved it into her hand. Hermione flicked her wand at Ron to lift the curse on him but all that happened was that Ron blinked again.

There was a strangled scream and the fighting stopped as Draper's voice boomed out over every other sound echoing inside the dungeon.

"Cease this now or the seer dies!"

Harry saw Jess fighting against a stranglehold, her feet lifted clean off the floor and Draper's wand aimed at her face. The twins looked to Harry while Percy tried to edge around to Draper's blind side and get a clean shot at him but the wizard seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.

"Nobody move!" Draper yelled again and Jess let out a squeal before swinging her legs wildly and catching the man in the shins a couple of times.

Draper threw her down to the floor and kept his wand on her while his eyes covered every witch and wizard in the room. Jess was crying but still kicking and scratching in the general direction of Draper's voice. He grabbed a handful of her hair and lifted her head a little before banging it down on the floor hard. Jess stopped moving but she could still be heard crying softly.

"Vessel stand up!" he growled to Ron.

"The curse is lifted, he's not doing anything you tell him you monster!" Hermione said as she held her shaking wand and took aim at Draper.

Draper's eyebrow lifted and Harry felt the bottom fall out of his world when Ron got to his feet obediently. He threw a questioning look Hermione's way and she seemed at as much of a loss as to why Ron was still being controlled by Draper as he was.

"Turn and face me boy," Draper was almost quivering with pleasure as he watched Ron turning around and Jess' cries grew a little louder.

"Ron? Is this it? Is this what we talked about?" she was whimpering.

Harry had no idea what was going on but he knew that he had had enough.

"Ron don't listen to him," he said before walking forward and stepping front of his friend, his wand on Draper the entire time, "You and your morons have gone far enough and I don't care about getting you arrested. I don't care about getting you brought to justice. I just want you dead."

"Then she goes first," Draper nodded down to Jess at his feet, "Do you care about that Potter?"

Harry looked so angry he could've spat in Draper's face.

"You aren't doing anything to anybody," Harry said.

"Vessel," Draper said with wild eyes as Harry took another step forward.

"Don't talk to him!" Harry growled, "He's not your vessel."

Hermione gasped as she saw Ron blink again and begin to sign. He gestured around at all the occupants of the dungeon with both arms before making a gripping motion from his chest and pulling away. Draper suddenly didn't look so superior or smug. He looked like a small child who had just been promised a special treat by his mother and was desperate to know what it could possibly be.

"What did he just say?" his eyes darted around the dungeon for his hostage to translate Ron's words, "Where's...?"

As he realised that his designated translator was hidden away from him somewhere and Harry had his back to Ron at the time of his message so the only people who could have seen it were the Weasleys and Neville and Hermione. Draper flicked his wand down at Jess and yelled.

"_Cruci-"_

"Prepare to receive!" Neville blurted, "He said prepare to receive! Please don't, not that."

Harry turned to glare at Neville for giving Draper the information he wanted but his anger was gone as soon as he saw Neville's face. He was as pale as alabaster and his jaw trembled as he stared down at Jess' weeping form. Harry turned back to Draper and saw the man looking absolutely overjoyed.

"You heard the _vessel_ men," Draper said, emphasising the word 'vessel' for Harry's benefit, "gather round and prepare to taste ancient power and knowledge we've only been able to imagine before."

The Death Eaters seemed to completely disregard the presence of anybody else but each other and Ron now. Percy was even shoved to one side by the youngest Death Eater as he made his way to join the circle around Ron, Draper, Jess and Harry. Ron's glazed eyes blinked again and his emotionless face sent shivers down Hermione's spine as she watched him draw a circle in the air before him and then make the gripping and pulling motion again.

"No," Harry said, his voice cracking and his eyes shining, "please don't do this to him," he pleaded with whatever it was of Rowena Ravenclaw that was inside of Ron.

"What is the instruction?" Draper demanded.

Harry's face contorted into a mask of bitter hatred and he turned back on Draper and sent out a bright green jet of energy from the tip of his wand. Hermione and Neville screamed while Fred seemed to have some kind of blood lust for this evil man to get his just desserts at long last. Percy lifted his wand and cast a protection spell over Jess' body at the same moment George did while Draper sent his own spell down at the seer's body.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_ Draper said as fast as he could,a look of terror in his eyes as he saw that Harry's non-verbal spell was about to strike him full in the face.

Suddenly a warm yellow light shot out of the tips of Ron's fingers and disintegrated both blasts of green light before they reached their targets.

"Oh shit," George said as he turned to see that Ron's eyes were rolling back into his head and a single trickle of blood falling from his left nostril and onto the floor.

"She can stop the killing curse?" Draper said, almost as if aroused the amount of power he was going to be able to leech from his _vessel's_ failing body.

Harry rounded on Ron; looking devastated that Ron wasn't really standing before him at all, and pointed his wand at his best friend with the tears threatening to flood his eyes.

"I won't let you do this," he said, his voice faltering.

Hermione's whole body was trembling as she watched her two best friends, her Ron and Harry, forced into this face-off that was neither of their making. She felt Neville's hand on her shoulder, squeezing firmly, and found that it was getting hard to breathe.

"What did he say?" Draper demanded, "One of you tell me what he said!"

Neville was still fearful for Jess and the threat of the _Criciatus_ hovering over her and couldn't stop himself.

"Received by all of us."

"No!" Draper ordered Ron, "Not them, only us, only those deserving of such a gift."

Harry took a step toward Ron as a tear rolled down his cheek and his wand arm began to falter.

"Get out of him or I _will_ kill you both."

"Harry no!" Percy called out at the same moment Jess whimpered the exact same thing.

"It's what he'd want me to do," Harry said hoarsely.

"Please don't," Jess sobbed, "you don't understand, it's all going to be okay I know it is."

There was a sudden ripple of energy that pulsed out from Ron's body in the same way a droplet of water can hit the surface of a still pool and the resulting ripple expands and grows until it hits the bank side. This power-ripple blasted Harry off his feet, along with Percy and the twins who were also standing, and lifted Jess from the floor to carry her behind the upturned table with Neville and Hermione. Then the table was forced back into the wall pinning then all safely out of harm's way with the minister and a soft indigo light seemed to form in front of them all so no spells could enter or leave.

Draper puffed out his chest and took three confident steps towards Ron before dropping to one knee and bowing.

"It is an honour to keep the old magic alive for you. We are ready."

Draper rose again and rejoined the circle that was completely surrounding Ron. Hermione pressed against the intense indigo light to see Ron taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. She glanced over to Harry and the twins who were all trying to shoulder their way through the barrier but Percy was on his knees with his hand to his mouth, terrified to watch but unable to tear his eyes from his baby brother in this final irreversible state of possession as it seemed to be.

"They are working together," Jess's unsteady voice whispered as the blind witch felt around and found Hermione's hand to grip and pat reassuringly, "I saw him. He told me. This is the plan."

"The plan didn't work Jess," Hermione said with a sniff as Neville put his arm all the way around Hermione's shoulders to hug her while Hermione pulled Jess closer to her and hugged her in turn.

Ron's skin seemed to be glowing from within and several more droplets of blood fell from his nose before he looked upwards to the dank ceiling above him and a second burst of energy burst out of him in a brilliant blue wave of light that flowed into every single Death Eater in the circle. Hermione saw Harry dropping to his knees and punching at the floor while Fred and George set about battering against the barrier with such determination that their knuckles were bleeding.

The Death Eaters were almost levitated clean off the ground as the intense blue light flowed into them, wave after wave after wave of power, until Draper's eyes opened wide with horror before he dropped to the floor like a lead weight and slammed down hard on his face. Within the blink of an eye every other Death Eater dropped down in the same way, none of them moving.

As soon as the last wizard fell the blue light fizzled into nothing, as did the indigo barriers that held the rest of them back. Harry and Hermione ran to Ron so fast that they managed to catch him before he hit the ground himself. He was covered in an ice cold sweat and was blinking his eyes back into focus once more when the twins and Percy joined them.

"Ron?" Harry said shakily as he pushed Ron's hair, damp with icy sweat back from his forehead.

"Is it...Are you..." Hermione was saying with a hopeful smile, "...is it really you?"

Ron gave a slight smile and made a shaking fist with his thumb and little finger extended and wriggled his hand in a rocking motion in front of him. The twins let out a short cough of a laugh and Hermione threw her arms around his neck and found herself hysterically giggling with relief as Harry fell backwards and put his head in his hands.

"What did he say?" Jess was calling as the minister guided her over to the gathering and helped her settle down on her knees, "Did it work?"

Percy seemed to shake himself out of his state of shock and moved around to quiz the minister on his well being while answering Jess' query at the same time.

"He's back Jess, he's definitely Ron!"

The twins smiled a little wider and slapped each other on the back while Neville began to chuckle.

"Yeah, only Ron would answer the question 'is that you?' with 'possibly'"

Jess laughed at this and reached forward to feel for Ron herself before her face fell and she pulled back sharply.

"Oh sorry, I almost forgot," she said with a stricken expression, "I nearly touched you."

Ron broke away from his hug with Hermione and reached over to take Jess' hand in his with a smile. Harry's eyes grew huge as he realised the implications of his friend's ability to do that very thing and let out a similar choke-type laugh to the one Fred and George had let out moments earlier.

Jess seemed to be delighted when she realised that it was Ron's hand she was holding and placed her other one upon his arm, where she knew his scars were, and ran it up and down before squealing with joy.

"Nothing's happening!" Ron's body shook with silent laughter and Jess suddenly threw herself at him and winded him with her hug, "This is brilliant!"

Hermione laughed along with Neville as he attempted to pry Jess away from Ron in order to run some tests to make sure Ron was really going to be fine. While the tip of Neville's wand set about conjuring the lilac mist around his head again and Hermione pulled out her own wand to test Ron's physical well being Harry grabbed Ron around the shoulders in a one-armed hug before shaking his head apologetically.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it," he said in a low voice while averting his eyes, "Draper could see it, he knew I was never going to kill you no matter what happened."

Ron grinned and shrugged before gesturing over his shoulder and pointing at his wrist. The twins doubled up with laughter and Neville completely lost concentration on his spell and practically spat his mirth into the side of Ron's head.

"What d'you mean maybe next time?" Harry snapped while breaking into a wide smile, "There isn't going to be a next time. No more next times understand?"

Ron wiped his hand over the side of his face, as if wiping Neville's projectile amusement off of his cheek, before drawing a cross over his heart and attempting to pull and honest face. Ron's 'honest face' just made him look even more mischievous though. Hermione finished her checks and threw her arms around Ron once again with a relieved sigh.

"You're all clear as far as I can tell."

"Same here," Neville said as he put his wand away and slapped Ron on the back, "She's all gone."

Ron winced, seemingly reluctant to ruin everybody's good mood, and made the sign for 'possibly' again and this time everybody knew he wasn't joking with them.

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned, "What exactly happened to this lot, do you know?"

Ron nodded. He curled his right index finger and slapped it against his open palm, waved his hand from left to right over his other palm, and then clenched both fists before gesturing around at the fallen Death Eaters.

"She really did share her power with them all?" Harry said as he too looked around at the still, but very much alive, bodies all over the place.

Ron nodded before waving his hand left to right over his palm and clenched his fists again before making a gripping motion with his hands away from himself and then twirled his finger around over the back of his hand. Everybody gasped except Jess who squeezed Neville's leg and asked him what Ron had just said.

"She gave them a spell to take away magic," Neville said with an awe filled glance around at the bodies once again.

"So she...She made them all..." Jess stammered, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Ron linked his little fingers and then pulled them apart.

"Squibs!" Neville translated with glee.

"They wanted a powerful kind of magic..." Fred said with an impressed nod.

"And they got it delivered to them..." George added.

"...in the form of a demonstration..." Fred grinned.

"...on them!" George chuckled.

"She made them all squibs!" Fred laughed in almost a girlish giggle.

Ron clapped his hands to get their attention once more and lifted his finger in the air.

"There's _more?_" Percy gaped while the minister laughed.

Ron nodded and gestured at the Death Eaters before making a snatching motion away from his face and pointing his index and middle fingers on both hands downwards.

"She obliviated them completely?" Hermione said, impressed that somebody with access to such harmful spells could have been so lenient with these evil men.

_Lenient but thorough._

"So they can't remember magic and they can't perform magic and..." Harry clarified before Neville interrupted him.

"They can't ever hurt anybody again," the round-faced healer smiled.

The door that led to the hallway exploded open and Charlie ran in and almost fell over one of the sprawled bodies on the floor before he'd even got three feet inside. Bill ran in behind him and had no such luck; he tripped over a limp leg and slammed down onto the ground with a thud. Charlie was scanning the dungeon and saw the amused looking gathering in the middle of the room surrounded by unconscious Death Eaters. Charlie lowered his wand in disappointment.

"Oh so you lot didn't need me at all, I might as well have stayed at home!"

"Sorry Char!" Fred grinned.

Bill groaned as he picked himself up from the floor and grumbled to himself.

"Why is it always _me_ that falls over?"

Harry got to his feet and grabbed Ron to help him up. Charlie kicked the Death Eaters left and right to make a clear pathway across the dungeon and grab Ron and hug him so hard that Ron had to punch him in the back to get him to let him go.

"Oh sorry, are you alright?" he said as he leaned back and looked his tired looking brother up and down.

Ron nodded and gave the thumbs up, which to Charlie seemed to signify that he was aloud to bear hug him again.

"Oh Merlin we've got to get you back to mum before she knits herself a bloody noose, the woman's on guilt overload!"

Ron smiled sadly and nodded. Bill limped forward and gave Ron a hug that was a little less like a physical assault before he ruffled Ron's hair and hobbled out to let the Aurors know that they had a lot of bewildered ex-Death Eaters to collect.

* * *

The dust had settled on the whole botched transfer fiasco when Mad Eye Moody stomped into the Department of Mysteries with Tonks and Shacklebolt. He was shown to the appropriate door to the brain room by one of the unspeakables and he aimed his wand at the tank full of pearly white liquid and brains swimming mystically amongst it.

"_Accio Ravenclaw's brain!"_

Just as the brain rose from the tank and hovered briefly before zooming in Moody's direction Tonks and Shacklebolt took aim and yelled out as one.

"_Diffindo!"_

Both spells hit the brain and it exploded in a blindingly bright blaze of white flames. As the cleansing fire fizzled out the three Aurors took in the most disgusting sight any of them could've imagined possible. Grey and beige gunk oozing down the walls and the side of the tank. It was also all over them and the unspeakable.

Tonks was the most audibly revolted by this.

"Well that's our part of the deal," Moody said gruffly as he wiped the jellified lumpy brain porridge from his mouth.

"Yes," Shacklebolt said with a grimace as he wiped the gunk off his wand onto his trousers, "let's just hope she was right about the second prison."

Tonks finally stopped gagging and flailing her arms about, brushing herself down in utter revulsion, and blew her green fringe out of her eyes.

"I still think we should have let Ron know we were doing this tonight."

"Well if it didn't work no harm done and he'll never know to be disappointed," Moody said briskly, "but if it did work..."

"He'll definitely know!" Shacklebolt smiled.


	20. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Harry had just left his meeting at the clinic in Cumbria with nurse Stour. They had tried to make light of all their recent misfortunes and Stour had asked if she was now an honorary member of the scar club because of the injury she had sustained during the Death Eater attack.

Three people had been murdered that day and the sapper had been shot and badly hurt but was , thankfully, going to be okay and had asked if it would be safe for him to stat seeing Ron for therapy again.

Stour had been clarifying the details of Ron and Harry's return to work first thing on Monday morning on condition that Healer Kalra gave Ron the all-clear during his final check-up at St Mungo's that afternoon. It was merely a formality but Harry still needed it to be officially confirmed. He needed to come home to the flat and see Ron's discharge papers. He needed to see his best friend with that infuriating 'what were you so bloody worried about?' smile on his face before he could let this whole thing go.

Ron still had the scars.

This could only mean one thing. Ravenclaw still had some kind of connection, maybe just her shadow, and everybody had been reassuring both Harry and Mrs Weasley that everything was going to be fine. Harry smiled as he thought about Ron's poor mother. She had been at such high anxiety for so long now that she was having a hard time coming down from it. Every morning and every evening she would floo into the flat to check that Ron was okay and that he was eating and didn't have a headache. Ron got so exasperated he sent her an owl with a tiny roll of parchment which contained two short sentences.

_Going to the toilet. Don't worry I'll be fine!_

The twins had laughed so hard at this over Sunday dinner that they promoted Ron from annoying little brother to duke of sarcasm.

As Harry crossed the border and back into the magic permitted world he saw Ginny waiting for him with his wand in her hand.

"Everything go okay?" she smiled.

"Fine," Harry nodded, "it's strange seeing it all rebuilt and not seeing some of the staff there but y'know, things change don't they?"

Ginny hugged him before looking up at him with a knowing smile.

"Yeah things do change," she said before standing on tiptoes to kiss him on the lips, "and people change and grow up and...feel ready...for stuff."

Harry felt as if his heart had just stopped beating.

"Please don't be teasing me," he begged her.

She laughed and took his hand as they walked to the nearest apparition point.

"No, I'm definitely done with the teasing."

* * *

Ron closed the door to Healer Kalra's office and folded up the discharge papers to slide them into his jacket pocket. He never had to come back to St Mungo's as a patient again. He grinned like a total fool and began to do a celebratory dance right outside Kalra's closed door. He might have got lost in the moment if it hadn't been for the sudden hysterical laughter coming from the far end of the corridor.

Ron jumped and spun around to see Neville doubled up with mirth, slapping his leg, and wiping his tear filled eyes.

"What d'you stop for?"

Ron stuck two fingers up with an embarrassed scowl. Neville began to make his way, slightly weak from laughing and unable to stop the sporadic chortles from escaping his lips the closer he got, over to Ron and slapped him on the arm.

"So I take it you just got discharged then," he sniggered.

Ron grinned and nodded.

"Great news mate," Neville smiled as he slapped Ron on the back and the two of them set off down the corridor together, "so have you got time to come down to the cafeteria with me and have some lunch?"

Ron hit his palm with the side of his hand before tapping his chin with his fingers and pointing at his wrist.

"Great, my treat," Neville smiled.

Ron raised his eyebrows and flicked the underside of his chin with his thumb before pointing at himself.

"Too right," Neville nodded in response to Ron's comment of 'lucky me', "I don't put my hand in my pocket for just anyone you know? Besides I need a favour!"

Ron rolled his eyes and gave Neville a playful shove before pointing his finger to the ceiling and twirling it beside his head.

"Or I could just blackmail you into helping me out," Neville shrugged as they stepped into the lift and Ron pushed the button for the ground floor, "I'm sure The twins would just love to know about your _moves_!"

Ron looked mortified and banged his fist over his heart with his index finger extended, pointing at Neville with a desperate shrug and then waving his hands around himself helplessly and gesturing to himself.

"I don't know what you're so ashamed of Ron. You're a very talented boy. I reckon if Hermione knew just how light on your feet you were she'd make you take her dancing every other weekend."

Ron grabbed Neville by the throat loosely and pretended to throttle him just as the lift doors opened and a group of people waiting outside froze in alarm at what they thought they were seeing. Ron and Neville broke apart and grinned amiably before stepping out of the lift. Ron paused to keep the door from closing until everybody had got inside and an old man stared at him before glancing at the scar across his throat and then back up at Ron's face again before looking excited about something.

"Are you Ron Weasley?" the old man said rather too loudly.

Ron looked to Neville who was about to step forward and tell the man not to be so damn rude but Ron leaned in close to the man as if he was about to whisper and the man leaned forward to listen. This in itself made Ron highly amused but he began to move his lips as if he was speaking perfectly normally. The man leaned back and stared at Ron in confusion before Ron pretended to shout at the man.

_I_

He mouthed as he pointed at himself.

_Think_

He pointed to his head.

_You're_

Again Ron mouthed the word as if he was bellowing it into the man's face while pointing at him before holding his hand out, palm down, and tilting it from side to side.

_A bit_

Ron then pointed at his ear and mouthed the last word.

_Deaf!_

The man blinked in shock and Neville's shoulders shook with his suppressed laughter as he grabbed hold of Ron's arm and dragged him away from the bewildered old wizard.

"You're so mean," he said with a shake of the head.

Ron feigned offence and put his hand on his chest.

"Yes you twinkle toes!"

Ron shoved Neville into the cafeteria with a huff and soon the two of them were sitting in a quiet corner where nobody could stare at Ron's scar, eating their lunch and tormenting each other between mouthfuls until the jokes all grew a little tired.

"Seriously though Ron, it's great that you and Harry can get back there again, Stour raves about you whenever she comes down for a pick-up."

Ron grinned sheepishly and tapped his head with his thumb before putting his hand to his heart and sliding one palm over the other.

"I'm sure Harry'll be thrilled to hear that theory," Neville scoffed, "you never know, it might be you she fancies."

Ron held his palm flat and waved his finger across it and downward.

"That's a long list you're adding her name too there," Neville smiled, "writing the names big are you?"

Ron took a sip of his pumpkin juice while Neville cut into his beef and onion pie and scooped up a forkful into his mouth. Ron twirled both his fingers and pointed his index finger into his open palm. Neville finished chewing and swallowed.

"Well what it is, the thing I wanted to ask you...well I should really tell you some news first before I...y'know, ask you the other thing that's to do with this thing...?"

Ron laughed and pointed at Neville before giving him the thumbs up.

"I'm fine! Um it's just that stuff's, other stuff's, been going on with me and I didn't talk about it because you had so much going on and it wouldn't have been fair but now that I think of it it's still not fair because you're starting work again and you've only just been cleared by Kalra and...so...just forget I said anything."

Ron sat back in his chair and looked around him for a 'Neville translator' before pointing at him and shaking his head.

"Well forget that I _meant_ to say something then!" Neville huffed before picking up a forkful of mash and lifting it to his mouth.

Ron raised his hand and rested it on Neville's wrist, pushing his arm back down so his fork settled back down onto his plate. Ron adopted a sincere expression and made a pointing motion to his lips and away before patting himself on the chest. Neville sighed and shoved his plate to one side to lean over the table and talk to Ron. Ron raised his eyebrows; if food was being rejected then this had to be something big.

"Well you know that mind damage is my specialty right?"

Ron nodded.

"And you all probably know why that is right?"

Nobody had ever spelled it out but everybody knew that this was all down to what had happened to Neville's parents when he was a baby. Ron nodded again.

"Well I've been putting in some extra time with them, Healer Kalra's been a great help too, and whenever you weren't...y'know, dying?"

Ron looked away with a tinge of embarrassment before meeting Neville's eyes again.

"Well I'd be doing a bit of work on them and over the last few weeks there's been some really promising...well there's been progress I suppose. No, not progress, it's like..." Neville gave up on his need to not get too excited and his face lit up, "...it's _great_ Ron!"

Ron stared at Neville and broke into a smile before rubbing his hands together then twirling his index fingers rapidly.

"Well they'll never be like they were but they're back kind of. Gran's practically floating on air. They both recognised her last Tuesday and my mum's started talking, she's got a stammer but that's nothing is it?"

Ron beamed at Neville before stroking his chin with his finger and giving the thumbs up.

"It's _really_ great!" Neville agreed, "So now mum's seeing all sorts of speech therapists and her memories are being unlocked and she finally believes that I am who I say I am," Neville's face fell a little at this, "she was convinced that I was still a baby."

Ron swallowed and rubbed his knuckles against his chest.

"No it's fine, it's got to be confusing hasn't it? She saw her reflection in the mirror and burst into tears. She's aged and doesn't remember a thing about it."

Ron took in the melancholy news and then frowned before twirling his fingers and pointing them at himself.

"Well what it is, what I was going to ask you..." Neville shook his head and looked away from Ron, "...I shouldn't be asking you, you're really busy and you've only just..."

_BANG!_

Ron slammed his hand down on the table and glared at Neville before hitting himself in the chest, crossing his hands over each other and moving them away sharply, and stroking his upper arm with his little finger.

"I never said you weren't strong enough to handle anything Ron. For Godric's sake you've taken to beating the hell out of innocent furniture again. I'd say that meant you were one hundred percent your old self!"

Ron tried not to smile as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. Neville took in a deep breath and took the plunge, talking at rapid speed to ensure he get everything out.

"All I was going to say was my mum's doing really well but my dad's brain damage is too severe in some areas and one them is his communication skills so all the spells, potions and speech therapy in the world will never allow him to speak again but the rest of him seems to be as sharp as anything. It's like he's had a stroke, his condition is more physical them mental while mum's is trauma but physically she's doing really well."

Ron finally understood what it was Neville was trying to get at and unfolded his arms to lean forward again.

"So my dad obviously wants to communicate desperately but his hands have got the shakes and he can't write stuff down, he can't even grip a quill, so he'd have to learn sign language. My mum would too so she could understand him obviously and I was going to ask...'cause _I_ could do it, I know it don't I? I learnt it for you," Neville shrugged as he gestured at Ron carelessly as if it was absolutely no big deal at all that he went to such an effort for his friend.

Ron smiled at his friend who took a breath to attempt to calm himself down before smiling back and carrying on at a slightly slower pace.

"I would teach them but I have such long shifts and irregular hours and sometimes I'm only free from three in the morning and you can't wake people up to teach them sign language in the middle of the night can you? So I was going to ask you if you'd..."

Neville stalled again and looked down at the table.

"Because it's not just the learning it's the fact that you know what he's going through because you had to do it yourself."

Ron waved his hand before Neville to get his attention so he could give him some kind of reassurance that this conversation wasn't upsetting him, so he shouldn't upset himself either, but Neville was still looking down at the table top.

"But you'll be working all day at the clinic and it's not fair to ask you to come here afterwards or at weekends to give lessons to my mum and dad so I'm not going to do it. I don't expect you to even consider it. I won't let you."

Ron made a 'Pft' sound with his lips as he stared at Neville, causing him to raise his head and meet his eyes again, before slamming his palm against his fist and pointing at Neville. Then he gestured to himself and gripped his fists and moved them downwards before hitting his palm with the side of his hand.

"I know it's not my place to tell you what you can and can't consider Ron, it's just that I don't want to take liberties."

Ron taped his finger against the table as he thought for a moment. He frowned and popped a chip into his mouth and chewed it while signing a brainwave he had just had to the stressed-out healer. He waved his hand over his palm gestured to himself and rubbed his knuckles together before signing the letter 'P'.

"How do you mean share with Percy?"

Ron nodded enthusiastically as he rubbed his hands together and shaking his hands before himself, pointing his fingers with both hands together and then drawing them apart horizontally.

"No, I know Percy's great at sign language, it's his career now, but he's just as busy as you are."

Ron held out both hands before him before waving one hand over the other palm.

"You mean take alternate days?"

Ron nodded.

"You think he'd be interested?"

Ron nodded again.

Neville grinned at Ron.

"So you'd do it?"

Ron laughed and pointed at him before gesturing around the cafeteria.

_For you, anything._

* * *

When Ron arrived home practically the whole family was there to hear whether he was fully discharged or not. He looked over his shoulder at Neville and told him to tell everybody for him.

While everybody else gave cheers and relieved sighs Hermione ran into Ron's arms and planted a kiss on his lips while Harry hugged Ginny closely to himself and seemed to smile his first worry free smile in a very long time. Mrs Weasley had filled the kitchen with food she had prepared at the Burrow and soon everybody was strewn all over the sofa, the armchair and the floor of Harry and Ron's tiny flat. Harry seemed a little eager to get away for some reason, Hermione guessed it might have had something to do with a private conversation she had with Ginny a couple of days ago and smiled to herself.

She climbed over several Weasley bodies to get to the kitchen and pour herself another drink. Just as she was ready to make her way back out into the living room the front doorbell rang and Neville jumped up to answer it as he was the closest.

"Godric it's Jess!" he exclaimed before taking her arm and kicking all the human obstacles aside so she wouldn't trip over, "What are you doing here?"

Ron was extricating himself from his spot wedged into the side of the sofa and followed them through to the kitchen.

"Well I'm not at the clinic anymore," she explained, "nurse Stour cleared me for rehabilitation back into the magical community."

"Jess that's fantastic!" Harry said as he stepped into the kitchen with Ron.

"Is that you saying that or Ron?" she smiled.

Ron made a gesture to Harry that meant 'both of us' and Harry translated it for him. Jess beamed and felt the space ahead of her. Ron grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"I hope you don't mind me stopping by but your flat is really close to my new halfway house and they wanted an in case of emergency contact and I wanted to ask if I could use you and Harry."

Ron tapped Jess' hand once and Harry grinned.

"Of course we don't mind Jess, this is so brilliant," Harry said warmly.

"Hey stay and have something to eat with us," Neville said happily, we've got plenty and I'm sure I can turf one of that lot out of their seat for you."

"Oh I don't want to get in anybody's way," Jess said but Neville was already gone and nudging an annoyed Fred into getting up.

"Too late Jess, he's already doing it!" Harry laughed.

"But I came with someone from the halfway house, they're waiting outside to show me back home," Jess said in a mini panic.

"No problem," Harry shrugged amiably, " I'll go an invite them in, the more the merrier!"

"Oh-kay!" Jess said, seeming to be a little overwhelmed at her warm welcome into a home she hadn't actually been invited to show up at.

Hermione popped a cheese and pickle sandwich into her mouth just as Harry began to hurdle his way out the front door to find Jess' companion. It was only then that she realised that she had her mouth full and Jess had no way of communicating with Ron other then via a translator. She began to chew frantically so she could be of help but Jess was already talking to Ron.

"So do you remember when we spoke that time?" she said as she held on to Ron's hand nervously.

Ron saw Hermione's predicament and laughed before tapping the back of her hand once.

"I really liked that."

Ron smiled and tapped the back of her hand again before frowning over at Hermione so she could ask Jess what it was that was up but Hermione was having some serious issues with her sandwich. She cursed Mrs Weasley's need to slice bread so thickly.

"Because I only ever got to see you in visions and you were always getting hurt and that time you were...happy. It was nice seeing you like that."

Ron smiled again and cast Hermione another glance, she shrugged at him apologetically while chewing even faster, and he squeezed Jess' hand.

"There's just one thing I wanted to do, I hope you don't mind but I'm feeling very brave this week."

Ron looked worried before casting an exasperated glance at Hermione for still not being of any use to him as a translator. Then he looked into the living room and saw Harry happily chatting with Jess' helper, a pretty young woman with blonde hair, and the rest of the family laughing loudly about something George was saying about three broken legs when he felt Jess's hand at the back of his neck and found himself being pulled down into an unexpected kiss.

Hermione nearly choked on her sandwich.

Ron's eyes were wide and they darted over to his astonished girlfriend who realised that she hadn't spoken since Jess came into the kitchen and the poor besotted girl didn't know Hermione was there. Ron gave Hermione a pleading look as if begging her to tell him what he was supposed to do while kissing a blind girl in front of his girlfriend. Hermione had had enough of her sandwich problem and spat the revolting doughy blob into the bin before signing to Ron so as not to embarrass Jess.

Just as she began to tell Ron to just ride it out and then she would make a very loud entrance into the kitchento save Jess' pride the blind witch broke away from Ron and let him go.

Ron took a step back and looked from his girlfriend to Jess and back again with a shrug.

"Don't worry, I'm not in love with you or anything, I know you've got a really lovely girlfriend and everything. I just wanted to do that just once, just to say thank you and I think you're wonderful."

Ron's mouth hung open and he searched himself for an appropriate course of action.

"Jess I've got you a place to sit down but we'd better move fast or you'll lose it!" Neville said cheerily as he offered his arm to Jess and led her from the kitchen to be greeted by the twins with cries of her being their savoir in the heat of battle.

Ron looked at Hermione and shook his head in shock before rubbing his knuckles against his chest. She crept across the kitchen and pulled him away from the door to whisper into his ear.

"What have you got to apologise for? I saw the whole thing, I think it's quite sweet actually."

Ron looked incredulous and gestured out into the living room before putting his fingertips together and twisting them. Then he pointed at Hermione before waving his hand forward vaguely.

"Only if you watch!" Hermione giggled at her response to Ron informing her she could kiss Jess next time if she thought it was so sweet.

Ron laughed and shook his head before hugging Hermione closely and walking back into the living room to rejoin the others.

* * *

While Harry and Ginny played footsie under the coffee table and giggled about all the attention Neville was paying Jess he noticed that Ron and Hermione were looking very embarrassed about something. Harry wondered if they had been caught getting up to mischief in Ron's bedroom.

Percy was scribbling a rota on a piece of parchment for sign language classes but Harry hadn't caught most of that conversation so wasn't really sure why he kept showing it to Ron and Neville who kept nodding.

George seemed quite taken with Jess' little helper and Fred was teasing him mercilessly every time she was distracted from George's many entertaining stories and confident charm.

Mr Weasley was sitting on his wife's lap in order to keep her off her feet for more then five minutes while Charlie threatened to join in the 'force mum to relax' protest by sitting on his father's lap. Bill pointed out that they wanted to keep their mother from rushing around after everybody and not paralyse her for life. This resulted in Charlie attacking Bill with a pumpkin pasty and causing quite a mess.

Harry was laughing and ducking the flying lumps of pastry as they flew through the air when Ron suddenly looked as if somebody had jut poured scalding water over him and the room fell silent.

Ron's shoulders were hunched and his arms were stiff. His wide eyes looked at Hermione who stared back at him with worried hope.

"That wasn't it was it?" she whispered.

"What? What's happened?" Mrs Weasley snapped as she threw her husband off her lap and tried to get up from the sofa but her legs were completely numb rendering her immobile.

"Ron you didn't tell me it was happening tonight," Harry said as he sat forward on the sofa and clutched Ginny's hand tightly.

Ron swallowed and seemed a little less tense as he shook his head and tapped his temple with his thumb.

"They didn't tell you they were destroying her brain?" Harry repeated, "So if it's not that then what...What's wrong?" Harry said as he watched Ron looking down at his arms again.

The redhead shook his head cautiously and crossed his hands over each other and drew them apart horizontally. Hermione took Ron's hand in hers and smiled at him confidently before moving her hand upwards, pushing back Ron's sleeve until the gathering crowd of friends and family gasped in unison and Ron's eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"What's going on? Neville, what's happening?" Jess said with confusion.

Ron quickly rolled up his other sleeve and held both his arms before him.

"Oh Godric Ronnie!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed as she pulled her husband back off the floor and clung to him tightly.

"What?" Jess demanded impatiently.

Neville laughed out loud and stared at Ron who was looking at Hermione with an amazed expression on his face before Hermione squealed and almost knocked him off the sofa with the force she threw herself at him.

"It's nothing to worry about Jess," Neville said as he took Jess' hand and patted it reassuringly, "it's just that Ron's scars have just disappeared."

**End**


End file.
